Cobourg.

Protoplast, owned by husband-and-wife team of Andy and Cathy Rolph, treats its 80 employees like family. One employee wrote that they allowed her to take as much time as she needed to stay with her father, in intensive care at a hospital an hour-and-a-half away. They hired additional personnel, gave her a company cell phone and configured a laptop for her. The woman's father spent about a month at the hospital before he died.

Patricia Hart said the entire organization feels that way, holding fundraising events to help coworkers deal with medical expenses or the loss of a loved one.

And new hires know they can work their way up. The current quality control manager started as a machine operator 12 years ago.

Nicole Smith, marketing associate at IQMS Inc., nominatedProtoplast for the Processor of the Year Award.

Tech Molded Plastics

This company, located in the plastics processing and mold-making center of Meadville, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2013. "To thrive for four decades in the uncertain business environment associated with manufacturing in America, we credit the development of strong relationships that extend far beyond financial decisions," Vice President Mark Hanaway wrote in nominating his family owned company for the Processor of the Year Award.

Tech Molded Plastics is on the small side, generating $19.6 million in 2012 sales. Sales for last year are not available yet. The Great Recession hit Tech in 2009, but business rebounded, to nearly double in 2010.

Since 2000, annual sales have grown an average of 7.5 percent. The company reports more than 20 straight years of