(La Porte, IN) - Three La Porte High School graduates are moving up the ladder at a local manufacturing company. Promotions were given to Colton Phelan, Kyle Upp, and Owen Strieter at Jaeger Unitek Sealing Solutions at 115 Koomler Drive. 

 

Kevin Casey, President and CEO of the company, said the young men helped double sales of its patented Flip ‘N Seal, which is used in making recreational vehicles during the pandemic.

 

Phelan, who recruited and hired Upp and Strieter, and the three young men combined produced noticeably positive results in sales.

 

“As a group of leaders, they essentially doubled our shipments into the recreational vehicle market segment,” Casey said.

Phelan is now Vice President of Sales, leading all activities in managing the development of new sealing solutions to serve customers in the automotive, industrial and recreational vehicle industries.

 

Upp and Streiter are market managers focusing on recreational vehicles.

 

According to the company, Upp played baseball for Purdue University, where he majored in Organizational Leadership and Supervision. Strieter is a graduate of Indiana University, where he played football and majored in Management and Administration.

 

Bert Cook, Executive Director of the La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership, said the promotions demonstrate that claims about a lack of job opportunities lacking in LaPorte are false.

 

“This is a perfect example of what happens when you put your nose to the grindstone. You work hard. There are opportunities within almost every single one of our local companies,” Cook said.