For Jeco Plastic Products, 2011 was a landmark year. Since 1979, the manufacturer has employed a 25-person staff, designing and producing highly-durable plastic molding at its Plainfield, Indiana facility. Yet, in the 33 years since its founding, international competition — a rising challenge to domestic manufacturers across the country — has threatened to erode the company’s core business. So when CEO Craig Carson learned that Jeco Plastics could win a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract producing plastic pallets for a major European automobile manufacturer if it could successfully innovate the design, the company knew it had to try.