Jasper Rubber back at work: Press-Seal plans $4M investment through 2028

Months after Jasper Rubber Products went quiet, more than 100 people are back at work at the 77-year-old Jasper manufacturer. Its new owners say another 100 jobs are coming over the next two years.

“The people who built Jasper Rubber’s reputation are the ones bringing it back,” said Pete Skinner, CEO and chairman of Fort Wayne-based Press-Seal Corporation, Jasper Rubber’s new owner. “More than 100 of them are back on the job, and we’re just getting started.”

Jasper Rubber plans to restart a second shift before the end of this year and a third shift in the first quarter of 2027. Supervisors and team leads for both shifts are already being hired and trained on first shift, so the new crews will start with experienced leadership on the floor.

The company expects plant employment to reach about 200 by July 2028.

The Skinner family, which has owned and run Press-Seal for three generations, bought Jasper Rubber’s plant, equipment and brand this summer. Jasper Rubber continues to operate under its own name, and Skinner said the new ownership’s view is simple: the company doesn’t need a restart or a reinvention.

“Jasper Rubber has 77 years of know-how, skilled people and customers who want to buy from them,” Skinner said. “It doesn’t need to be reinvented. We intend to return this company to what it was when the Place family ran it.”

That message echoes the one Mayor Ryan Craig gave in January, when he was chosen to finish former Mayor Dean Vonderheide’s term: “Jasper doesn’t need disruption for the sake of disruption. It needs momentum.”

“Mayor Craig said it well,” Skinner said. “Jasper needs momentum, and that’s what we’re building at Jasper Rubber.”

Press-Seal plans to invest about $2 million in equipment, facility upgrades and a refreshed Jasper Rubber brand by July 2027, and another $2 million by the end of 2028.

Much of that work is already under way. New presses are in place with more on the way, and worn-out machines are being replaced with newer, more efficient ones. Equipment that sat idle will also be refurbished and brought back online.

The plant’s plastics operation recently started back up and is running production every day.

New work is coming to Jasper as well. Press-Seal is moving a production line for water gaskets to Jasper.

“Customers are coming back quickly,” said Todd Krapf, Jasper Rubber’s sales manager. “Quoting picks up every day, and former customers are bringing work back as well as launching new products/projects.” The company recently hired another salesperson to help bring in new business.

Skinner said Press-Seal looks forward to working with the city and other local partners as the plant continues to grow.

“Jasper Rubber’s best years can still be ahead of it,” he said. “We want to build them here, with this community.”