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Sigma Plastics Group
Andrew Sheldon//August 9, 2005//
Listen to this articleDate: July 27, 1994
Title: Top 20/Sigma Plastics Group
Taking risks to accomplish goals seems to come naturally to Alfred S. Teo, the founder and chairman of the Sigma Plastics Group. In addition to Sigma, which consists of six plastics companies, Teo has a trucking company, investments in commercial and office real estate, owns a computer firm and has a strong position in the New Jersey banking scene.
Teo was raised in China for the first 13 years of his life and then attended a boarding school in Hong Kong. In 1968 at the age of 22, he immigrated to New York City and paid his own way through Queens College, where he earned degrees in accounting and business. He worked as an accountant until he was offered the position as controller of troubled Blue Star Packaging in Brooklyn. “In two years we turned the company around, and I became the general manager and executive vice president,” says Teo.
When Blue Star was sold in 1979, Teo invested proceeds from the sale of his Blue Star stock and his house to start Sigma Extruding, which began producing a line of film packaging products for the dry cleaning and apparel manufacturing industries. Today the company has 10 plants operating throughout the U.S. and has created 1,500 jobs, 800 of which are in New Jersey.
Polyethylene film packaging has become an indispensable item in many industries. With more than $100 million invested in Sigma”s plants and equipment, Teo says the capital-intensive business requires constant modernization “because of new product lines and new technology.” Specialized, fully automated equipment at Sigma Extruding produces clear and opaque easy-open garment bags that have the customer”s name on the front. Fourteen specialty items are produced from polyethylene film at the 62,000-sq.-ft. Lyndhurst plant.
When Teo wanted to expand, he started other companies. Beta Plastics in Carlstadt turns out a line of plastic bags for the health-care, paper and janitorial-supply industries at its 110,000-sq.-ft. facility. Omega Plastics” 64,000-sq.-ft. plant in Lyndhurst produces polyethylene packaging for the food-service industry. Delta Plastics” 79,000-sq.-ft Newark plant manufactures custom bags and film. Delta Plastics of Illinois has a 51,000-sq.-ft. plant and makes custom bags and film for the mid-west market. When Teo was ready to expand to the west coast, he bought an existing 141,000-sq.-ft. plant in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. for Omega Extruding Corp.
Each of the six companies operates independently and has its own niche market with product lines that complement each other. Economy of operation is achieved by sharing services and group purchases.
When Sigma got started, most of the competition came from imports from his old home–the Far East. While those have not taken a greater share of the market, “there is still definitely a lot of competition from overseas,” he says. The Sigma Group now has a national sales force of 150 to keep the orders coming.
Sales volume continues an upward climb. The Sigma Group had revenues in 1993 of $165 million, and this year it expects to do more than $200 million,” says Teo.
The plastics businesses do not take all Teo”s energy. Several years ago when bank stocks were depressed, he bought enough shares in Citizens First National Bank in Glen Rock to become the principal stockholder and a director. Teo also owns Alpha Technologies in Piscataway, which specializes in computer hardware and consulting. He has also acquired control of Redline Express, a Lyndhurst-based trucking company. In May the Theta Group, which is made up of Teo and several family members, purchased the 12-story, 426,000-sq.-ft. Overlook building in Great Notch.
Teo modestly maintains that he has been successful because, “I work hard and watch my business.” He says he named his six businesses after Greek letters “just because I like Greek letters.” What will happen if Teo decides to use the other 18 letters in the Greek alphabet? s
