Agri-Industrial Plastics Company of Fairfield is celebrating back-to-back manufacturing recognitions this fall, with President Lori Schaefer-Weaton named a 2026 Legends in Manufacturing Award recipient and the company earning the 2026 SPE Blow Molding Division Recognition of Excellence Award.
According to a press release from the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, Schaefer-Weaton will be honored in the 100-300 employees category at the Iowa Manufacturing Conference on October 13th at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, presented by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry and Elevate Iowa Manufacturing. The awards recognize leaders whose contributions have strengthened Iowa’s manufacturing industry through leadership, innovation, and service. Also honored at the conference will be Steve Anderson of Merrill Manufacturing in Storm Lake in the under 100 employees category, Pat Weiler of Weiler in Knoxville in the 300-plus employees category, and former Iowa Governor and Ambassador to China Terry Branstad as Manufacturing Champion.
“ABI was founded by manufacturers, so recognizing the leaders who have helped shape Iowa’s manufacturing industry is especially meaningful to us,” said ABI President Nicole Crain. “These honorees represent the leadership and commitment that make Iowa manufacturing strong, and we’re proud to recognize the impact they have made on their companies and communities.”
According to a press release from Agri-Industrial Plastics, the SPE Blow Molding Division Recognition of Excellence Award — which recognizes regional molders near the Annual Blow Molding Conference site for innovation, investment in operations, employee engagement, and commitment to the blow molding craft — will be presented to Agri-Industrial Plastics in October at the conference in Wheeling, Illinois. Founder and Chairman of the Board Dick Smith — who at age 89 still comes into the office daily — will accept the award on behalf of the company he started in 1978 with four employees, two clients, and one used blow molding machine. Remarkably, both of those original clients are still with the company nearly five decades later.
Schaefer-Weaton said the recognition reflects the work of the entire team. “This is a significant honor from our industry peers, and it recognizes much more than the products we make,” she said. “The award celebrates companies that demonstrate innovation, investment in their operations, employee engagement, and a commitment to the blow molding industry and their communities. For nearly 50 years, AIP has grown by investing in technology, developing our employees, taking care of our customers, supporting our community, and continually looking for ways to improve. From our multilayer fuel tank technology and automation to our sustainability efforts and employee development, so many people across AIP have played a part in building the company we are today.”
According to a feature published by Plastics Machinery and Manufacturing, AIP today operates 20 accumulator head extrusion and eight multilayer coextrusion blow molding lines and employs approximately 200 people. The company produces more than 500,000 multilayer fuel tanks annually and is perhaps best known outside the agricultural market for the original Koala Kare baby changing station, a product that came out of the company’s early strategy of identifying products made from other materials that could be converted to blow molding. The company’s earliest products were for the agricultural market, including parts for field drainage systems, animal feeders, and warming mats for baby pigs.
Geoff Ward, the company’s director of engineering and strategy and a nearly 20-year member of the SPE Blow Molding Division board of directors, said the recognition goes beyond industry performance. “When you look at some of the other companies that have been recognized, it’s definitely an honor to be in that group,” Ward said, according to the Plastics Machinery and Manufacturing feature. “The award considers more than just industry performance, and I find it satisfying that the company’s work in the community, its employee relationships and values are being seen.” Ward said the recognition gives the entire team a chance to step back and appreciate what they have built. “You’re in it every day and you’re grinding and you’ve got to get to the next problem, you’ve got to get to the next project. And so I think this will give our whole team a chance to step back and say, wow, we’re being recognized from our industry peers, which is really something.”
AIP has deep roots in the Fairfield community, according to the Plastics Machinery and Manufacturing feature. Smith was instrumental in growing the Fairfield Manufacturers Association and has served on boards for the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Association. The company has been a longtime partner of the African Violet Foundation, which began by providing Christmas gifts to local children who might not otherwise receive any and has since expanded into clothing distribution, a boutique, and broader family support services. “That’s been an amazing partnership,” Schaefer-Weaton said. “And again, I think what we all really appreciate is that it’s in our own backyard and we really can trust that the value is being delivered to the right people.”
Smith, who will turn 90 next year, remains as engaged as ever, according to the feature. “He’s here six hours a day, always contributing and always giving us lots of ideas,” Schaefer-Weaton said. “He absorbs more information at 89 than any person I know. He loves still going out and solving an engineering problem. It’s just his true heart.” Smith has been a longtime supporter of the Engineering College at the University of Iowa, which honored him last year by endowing its deanship in his and his wife Judy’s name. He was also the recipient of the 2008 Blow Molding Division Lifetime Achievement Award.
Schaefer-Weaton said she is looking forward to celebrating the recognition with her team. “We don’t often stop to take the time to appreciate the company that we’ve all been building,” she said. “I’m looking forward to spending that time with our whole team to say thank you. It takes so many skill sets to run a successful manufacturing company, and we have a lot of really, really talented people. So I’m looking forward to celebrating them.”
More information about Agri-Industrial Plastics is available at agriindustrialplastics.com.
