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Company History
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Hugh Rowland
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In 1963, company founders Hugh and Bill Rowland bought the rights to develop a new retro-reflective technology from a company called Luce Reflexite, Inc. After extensive trial and error, the first thin-gauge microprism retro-reflective sheeting was produced in 1968, and the following year, the Rowland brothers bought out Luce Reflexite and installed a prototype casting machine at their company, Rowland Products, Inc.
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Bill Rowland
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Working closely with Fresnel Optics of Rochester, New York (now part of the Reflexite team), the Rowlands developed a process for the manufacture of tiny cube-corner prisms, using molds made with diamond ruling equipment.
Incorporated in 1970, the Reflexite project was spun out of Rowland Products into a newly formed company, Reflexite Corporation. The first commercial sales of Reflexite took place in 1973. Since then, we have developed many new proprietary processes that allow us to cast microprisms onto a variety of plastic substrates, including vinyl, polyester, and acrylic.
In 1983, Cecil Ursprung, joined Reflexite as President and CEO, and took over the day-to-day management of the company. Hugh Rowland remained Chairman of the Board until his death in 1990. Bill Rowland became Chief Technology Officer of the company.
In 1985 Reflexite Corporation started its ESOP, Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Our ESOP is a powerful retirement mechanism designed to financially reward all employee-owners while at the same motivating them to maintain a high level of commitment to the Company, job performance and longevity of service. In 2005, Reflexite celebrated its 35th year in business and its 20th year as an ESOP company.
In 1992, Bob Nielson joined the company as its Vice President of Technology. Bill Rowland became Chief Scientist.
In 1997 the company adopted its current "Management of Light" business strategy. Since that time we have emphasized applying our core technologies Optical Engineering, Polymer Processing and Microreplication to growth opportunities in our core markets of reflective products and display optics, as well as other growth markets of the future such as lighting and instrumentation.
In April 2001, Michael F. Foley was named President and COO of Reflexite, as the next step in the CEO succession process.
In 2003, we formed Reflexite Display Optics (RDO), devoted to the sale of optical films to the LCD flat panel display industry. We also created the Reflexite Optical Solutions Business (OSB), which is our custom optics business.
In 2004, Bob Nielson retired and Steve Scott became the third Vice President of Technology of the Company.
In July, 2005 Bill Rowland officially retired from the company although he still is a member of the Board, Emeritus, and still contributes to technical projects in the company.
On July 13, 2006, Michael F. Foley was nominated and elected to succeed Cecil Ursprung as the third CEO of Reflexite Corporation. Cecil Ursprung assumed the role of Executive Chairman of the Board.
Over the past several years, Reflexite has made a considerable investment in equipment and people. Our Technology Center, located in Avon, Connecticut, USA, was designed to accommodate future growth and expansion. As we continue to add new member companies around the globe, we will continue to support them with innovative engineering solutions and ever-brighter products. Since its founding, Reflexite Corporation has achieved technological breakthroughs that continue to open new markets throughout the world.
We are a multinational corporation with a worldwide network of member companies (wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures).
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