Innovation
Stepping up
How Steve Peplin took an innovative idea and turned it into a company
By Megan Tackett
Smart Business Akron/Canton | September 2008
Steve Peplin hopes that the
squeaky stair will be a thing of
the past. For the past 20 years, Peplin has led Talan Products Inc.,
but in the past year, he created a new,
exciting joint venture with Canadian
entrepreneur Eric Gobeil.
Gobeil created the Universal Stair
Bracket, which makes constructing
stairs more efficient and stable, and
after Peplin saw its success in
Canada, he wanted to not just manufacture the units, but he wanted to
create a whole new organization, so
with that, GoPro Construction
Solutions was born.
It was a perfect match. Gobeil had
the product, and Peplin had the experience and resources. As CEO, Peplin
has watched Talan balloon to a $25
million metal stamping company,
expanding 19 percent between 2005 and 2007, all during a time when the
industry trend was to fold under economic pressure.
Now, the entrepreneurial
duo will face those economic pressures head-on with
their new joint venture. As a
Talan affiliate, GoPro has
the advantage of having
experienced Talan executives as well as new sales
and marketing talent to give
the company a leg up in its infancy.
GoPro is the product of Peplin’s
“intellectual capital,” a strategy he
put in place at Talan to ensure that
his company was growing from within and not relying solely on the successes of customers. Traditionally,
metal stamping companies make
parts to order, but Peplin’s vision
took the company to another level.
By investing in intellectual capital,
he outlined specific goals to develop
a line of proprietary products manufactured by Talan and marketed directly or through
partnerships.
Gobeil’s Universal Stair
Bracket is the first product
that GoPro will market, but
Peplin says that it is certainly not the last.
“This is just the first of
many innovative construction products we will be introducing,” he says.
His innovation is catching attention, and WIRE-Net President and
Executive Director John Colm has
said before, Talan is a “poster child
for business unusual.”
HOW TO REACH: Talan Products Inc., (877) 419-2805 or
www.talanproducts.com
