BusinessTN

Most football fans will be familiar with Dayton-based T.C. Thiolon USA's product. The Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints have each recently installed Thiolon's synthetic grass fiber on their home playing fields, shunning the injury-inducing Astroturf as well as the upkeep cost of natural grass. Increasingly, though, the installation of synthetic turf is trickling down to the college and high school levels as school officials discover the cost savings of a one-time expenditure (roughly $700,000) in a synthetic surface versus the ongoing capital costs of maintaining a natural field.

The math looks good for Thiolon. America currently boasts around 1,800 synthetic turf fields. One-third of them were installed in the past year alone, but another 50,000 college and high school athletic surfaces exist.

Already the nation's largest polyethylene manufacturer--2005 company sales approached $60 million--Thiolon broke ground in November on a $10 million addition. It is the second expansion since 2000 when Holland's oldest textile manufacturer, 300-year-old Ten Cate Thiolon, acquired the former Polyloom plant. As a result, Thiolon will soon have two new operating production lines, 82,000 additional square feet of space and 40 new employees.

Managing Director Ian Petrie says he expects the company to continue its current 20% annual growth clip in each of the next five years.

"This recent expansion is big enough to put in six new production lines," Petrie says. "We'll add capacity as needed."

Other increasingly popular commercial applications may drive that need. Thiolon recently inked a contract with the city of Las Vegas to provide synthetic turf for street medians--interestingly, marking a return to the very purpose for which Chevron Oil founded Polyloom back in 1968.

For now, Thiolon's core product remains athletic turf. One client, the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, installed a football field last year in hopes of eliminating any possibility of a repeat of 2004's Division I-AA college football title game at Finley Stadium, one marred by loose sod.

Game Director Scott Smith says the new field greatly enhances the city's chances of extending its NCAA contract. An important economic driver for Chattanooga dating back nine years, city and private sources combined to pay the $350,000 installation cost.

For Thiolon, UTC's field provides a nearby showcase for prospective buyers. It's one reason the company manufactured the field--another $350,000 value--free of charge.