Cathy Boettner

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A Cleveland-based plastic tubing and corrugated pipe manufacturer experienced rapid growth last year — a feat that got the notice of a statewide business magazine.

BusinessTN ranked Cleveland Tubing in its annual list of “Hot 100” companies based on the company’s 35 percent growth in 2007.

“It is the result of a lot of hard work that we put into developing new products and new markets that we haven’t been in before,” said Cathy Boettner, company president. “It was a concerted effort among everyone here to make that happen.”

Staff Photo by Patrick Smith Cleveland Tubing, Inc., president Cathy Boettner stands in the company's warehouse on Friday. Cleveland Tubing was recently named to BusinessTN magazine's Tennessee Hot 100 list of companies.

Most of Cleveland Tubing’s customers are nationwide retailers such as Lowe’s and Ace Hardware. In 2007, the 45-employee company boosted sales and generated about $8.4 million, Ms. Boettner said.

Company officials said Cleveland Tubing’s 20 years in business haven’t always been so positive, but Chris Turner, manager of the facility at 799 Industrial Drive, said the company turned a corner in 2007.

“It was a banner year,” he said.

David Polisky, marketing manager, attributes the rapid growth to the company’s ingenuity.

“Cleveland Tubing decided to develop its own product and its own brand and take a little bit more control of its destiny,” he said. “They have really done a good job developing a brand-name product that they can market themselves.”

Ms. Boettner said the company expects continued growth in the future with the expansion of its Flex-Drain products, which are flexible, corrugated tubes used in landscaping and drainage control.

“This will be a series of fittings that work with our drain pipe as well as the traditional, corrugated drain pipe and PVC,” she said. “This will be coming out in the first quarter of 2009.”

According to the company, Cleveland Tubing was founded in 1989 by Ms. Boettner’s parents to manufacture pipe for a single customer.

Today, Cleveland Tubing’s products range from specialty drinking straws to molded plastic parts. It has developed several custom-designed applications for plastic tubing.

Cleveland Tubing launched Flex-Drain in 2006. It received the “do it best members choice” award several months later at the 2006 Do It Best Market in Indianapolis. It was nominated for a Kruesi Award for Innovation in 2007.

Mr. Turner said he is optimistic about the company’s future.

“We do things in nontraditional ways with exceptional results. That is why we have grown, and that is why we have banner plans for 2009,” he said. “If we don’t make this list again in 2010, looking at 2009 results, I will be very disappointed.”