Catalyst Is Celebrating 25 Years Of Business!
To mark the occasion, we have been crunching a few numbers to gain perspective on this achievement. 25 years of business speaks volumes about our loyal customers who have supported us every step of the way. And if you are searching for a trusted product development partner with extensive plastics expertise, these numbers should be of interest!
Experience
- 25 Years of Growth and Client Success
Clients
- Nearly 10,000 Clients Served
Industry Sectors Served
- Experience in 80% of Industry Sectors
Patent Entries
- 693 U.S. Patent Entries with Vast Amounts of Intellectual Property (IP) and Trade Secrets Created
New and Repeat Business
- 68% of New Projects from Returning Clients or Client Referrals
Employee Tenure
- 43% of Our Team with Tenure Greater Than 20 Years
Let’s break down some of these stats to see just how far Catalyst has come and what that means for the years ahead!
25 Years
“There aren’t that many design firms that have been around for 25 years, I mean they have come and gone.” -Catalyst Co-Founder & CEO, Jack Lawson
This first number is an obvious starting point, and we certainly appreciate our clients who’ve made it all possible. From our first clients, Sassy Baby, Cosco and Hewlett Packard to the newer additions to the Catalyst client family. Thank you!
We’ve learned the importance of tackling large-scale corporate programs while still providing personal service to entrepreneurs who are chasing their dreams. Listing off the names of companies who have trusted Catalyst with their product line development over the years is what initially sparked our curiosity to tally the rest of our key stats. So how many total clients have we actually served over that time?
Nearly 10,000 Clients
When we began to search for granular data in the early years of our business, it required pouring through archived data and physical records. Several migrations from system to system had clouded the big picture over the years and to be honest, the numbers began to look like we had an error somewhere.
The reality is that our growing client list is quickly approaching the ten-thousand mark. It’s easy to mentally place Catalyst in the single category of product development, but when you unpack all of the services that are under that ridiculously wide umbrella, the picture starts to come into focus.
Our clients use Catalyst as a far-reaching resource from testing a concept with market research all the way out to production manufacture and assembly. It’s that flexibility which opens the flood gates to all possibilities. Some companies have a talented design team, and they use Catalyst solely for mechanical engineering consultation while it’s the opposite situation for our next design project. Clients that have internal design and engineering often need rapid iteration with physical prototypes. The list goes on and on with everything that is included within our tooling and molding departments.
At Catalyst, it’s not all or nothing, it’s all or anything.
While we certainly appreciate the opportunity to shepherd a rough concept from mind to market, the majority of our clients take advantage of specific verticals within our team’s expertise. That variety in our day to day is part of the beauty of working here and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
80% of American Industry
Catalyst takes great pride in being a 100% U.S. company serving American and international businesses. Catalyst has built thousands of molds and manufactured plastic components numbering in the millions right here in our Indianapolis facility. In order to understand just how many American industries we have supported in 25 years of business, we turned to the North American Industry Code System (NAICS).
Every company that does business in the United States is assigned a code to aid in reporting for the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. With a client list nearly ten thousand strong, Catalyst has served the lion’s share of American industries. As you can imagine, the exhaustive list is incredibly long and to serve our purposes here it would be easier to mention the industries we haven’t served.
The categories left untouched are not surprising as they do not usually produce a tangible product, such as Public Administration, Financial and Real Estate Services. When considering the primary industry that our clients are engaged in, Catalyst has served right at 80% of all industry sectors in the United States.
693 U.S. Patent Entries
A major part of what we do as a premier product development firm is help our clients claim valuable Intellectual Property (IP). Catalyst takes this aspect of our business very seriously. Every employee is bound by our NDA to assure that our client’s interests are fully protected, and Catalyst never lays any legal claim to patents that we help our clients secure.
Though projects may come to us after an initial patent has been awarded, many times we uncover additional patentable concepts for our clients as a product of our development process. During the application process, the names of Catalyst employees are included in the initial filing, prior to final assignment and transfer. A U.S. Patent and Trademark search query for all names of past and current Catalyst employees produces a return of 693 entries.
When you consider that there have only been 5,027 workdays since Catalyst was founded, that’s quite a tally. Catalyst is proud to share our track record of IP output that averages one patent entry every 7.25 days for 25 years!
43% Employees With Tenure Of 20+ Years
We believe that a major key to talent retention is a challenging work environment with the potential for genuine growth. Of course, Catalyst’s longevity wouldn’t be possible without the talent and experience of our associates. The current average employee tenure in the United States is 4.1 years.
While it’s perfectly normal for a person to have held six different jobs over the last 25 years, Catalyst has been solely focused on building expertise and refining our process during that time. In fact, over 40% of our associates been with us for more than twenty years. Catalyst extends a heartfelt thanks and congratulations to our Executive Manager, Jason Andrews and V.P. of Product Development, Andrew Mendenhall for 25 years of service and dedication to our clients! When compared to the national average, their tenure is an impressive 6:1 ratio. The collective experience of the entire team provides unparalleled breadth and depth of knowledge across industries that have been key to bringing our clients back time and again.
68% Returning Clients or Referrals
High quality design, engineering and manufacturing all must coalesce to make a successful product and Catalyst measures that success through repeat clients and their likelihood to recommend us to their peers. Over the past 25 years, 32% of our annual business is typically comprised of new client projects.
However, we take great pride in the fact that an admirable 68% comes from loyal, repeat customers and/or client referrals. Several companies have trusted us with their product line since the very beginning and we thank each and every client for their continued support.
#1 Priority
This is truly the most important number of all. At Catalyst, the number 1 represents you. When we are trusted to develop a product for our client, their satisfaction and success is always our number one priority. Customer satisfaction is the driving force behind every investment, expansion, and improvement that makes Catalyst what it is today. From our start in a sparse 600 sq. ft. building to our current 29,000 sq. ft. innovation playground, every decision has been made with you in mind.
Thank you for all the trust and support over the last 25 years. While it’s been a joy to celebrate these milestone achievements, Catalyst always has an eye on the future. As the business continues to grow and improve further, we are excited to see what tomorrow may bring.
