Jul. 24--The new owners of Colorado Industrial Packaging are working to not just ride out the recession, but to grow the business.

The Colorado Springs-based company, formed in 1994, supplies packaging products ranging from bubble wrap and packing peanuts to specially designed boxes. Brett and Elizabeth Henricks and Brian and Janey Nickel bought the business early this year for an undisclosed sum.

"We went in with both eyes open that this was going to be a tough year," said Brett Henricks, president and CEO. "To just be able to maintain the business, let alone try to grow it, was an aggressive posture to take."

Though they were taking a risk by jumping into turbulent economic waters, they were comforted by the company's track record, said Brian Nickel, vice president of sales and marketing.

"It's been a very steady performer for years," he said.

It was the opportunity to take the company to the next level that attracted them, both said. For Nickel, whose career has been in sales, mostly in the technology arena, it also meant no longer having to be on the road every week. And for Henricks, it was an opportunity "to do something on my own, for my own benefit," after serving as president and CEO of ice maker All Seasons Ice LLC. Henricks, who has a degree in physics, also worked for several years for Atmel Corp.

The two men, who have been friends for years, have already taken several steps to grow the business, including adding sales people, launching a Web site and buying computerized box making equipment so that the company is not just a supplier, but also a manufacturer. That, Henricks said, adds to their ability to provide "full packaging solutions" -- say a small order of custom-made boxes for unusually shaped or sized shipments.

"The addition of the box making equipment has really opened up new business ventures that we hadn't been able to touch before," he said.

As newcomers to the business, Nickel said, he and Henricks bring a fresh perspective. For example, he's introduced some customers to a replacement for standard, heavy, wooden crates -- new crates with a wooden base and cardboard sides that are lighter, easier to move around and cost less.

The company operates a 12,000-square-foot warehouse on Aviation Way in eastern Colorado Springs and has nine employees. Hendricks declined to provide sales figures.

Colorado Industrial Packaging's customers range from local UPS stores to manufacturing companies to people running Web stores out of their house, Nickel said. "It's the full gamut."

The key to success in sales, he said, is the same whether it's semiconductors or packaging materials.

"It's very basic in that standpoint. Do they trust you, are you providing value, are you going to be there when they need you?"

Don Smith, owner of Peak Business Brokers, brokered the sale of Colorado Industrial Packaging. The previous owner was Bob Bartlett. Smith believes Henricks, with his management experience, and Nickel, with his background in sales, are well-suited to the challenge of running and growing the business.

"I couldn't have found a more ideal fit in my mind."

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Contact the writer at 636-0272.

MORE ONLINE

Colorado Industrial Packaging, www.cippack.com

Peak Business Brokers, www peakbusinessbrokers.com

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