Input Stories

Konrady Plastics: A Tale of Manufacturing Resilience

By NAM NewsroomOctober 1, 2026

Konrady Plastics shows manufacturing resilience after severe storms

Manufacturers’ resilience shines in times of trouble, and that certainly held true recently for Konrady Plastics.

What’s going on: On Aug. 11, severe storms, including a tornado, swept through Northwest Indiana, disrupting—but not stopping—the company’s operations, even though Konrady did not have a generator that could supply the shop floor.

  • We “relied on regional ‘friendly competitors’ who worked overtime for us or allowed us to use their equipment when it wasn’t in use,” said Konrady Plastics CEO and NAM board member Leah Konrady, including “places in Chicago, Indianapolis and Cincinnati.”
  • The company also made use of an onsite generator supplying power to the office, which became an internal command center.

A family-like team: The business relied on its own employees, who came out to help remove debris and more than 30 downed oak trees from the Portage, Indiana, property.

  • The company made sure to pay that loyalty back, allowing workers scheduling flexibility “so that people could step away to deal with their personal storm restoration efforts,” Konrady said.

Sharing resources: Over the weeks it took to bring operations fully back online, Konrady and its local community teamed up to keep things running.

  • The company brought in food for employee lunches while power remained out and shared information about state and federal storm assistance.
  • Employees helped each other repair tornado damage to homes, removing trees and limbs from houses and yards and offering hot showers, washing machines and outlets to those whose power remained out longer.

Making up for lost time: Once power was restored, the manufacturer needed “substantial overtime to get caught up,” Konrady continued.

  • There “was nearly a month’s worth [of work], including weekends” that needed to be made up, she said. “Talk about being exhausted and worn out!”

The last word: The main lesson the company learned through the experience? “The importance of giving each other some grace” during it all, Konrady told us.

  • “We also made sure to cultivate gratitude,” she added. “We found silver linings and minor wins anywhere we could and that helped keep our spirits up.”