NORMAN M. FAIN, CHAIRMAN OF TEKNOR APEX WHO LED ITS TRANSFORMATION INTO A LEADING POLYMER COMPANY, DIES AT 89

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PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND, November 7, 2003: Norman M. Fain, longtime owner and chairman of Teknor Apex, died on November 1 at the age of 89, the company announced today.

Known in the plastics and rubber industries as the head of one of the few large, research-intensive raw material companies that is privately held, Norman Fain was also esteemed in his native Rhode Island as a philanthropist and public servant. In addition, he headed the family-owned Apex department store chain, which operated in Rhode Island until recently.

Born in 1914, Norman Fain was the son of Alfred A. Fain, who founded Apex Tire Company (which would become Teknor Apex) in 1924, and the father of Jonathan D. Fain, who is president and CEO of Teknor Apex.

When Norman Fain went to work with his father in 1936, the firm was primarily a tire recapping company, but in 1945 it started a custom rubber mixing business and in 1949 began production of vinyl compounds. In 1968, Norman Fain became chairman of the company, now renamed Teknor Apex. His partners in the business included Victor J. Baxt, who joined the firm in 1946, and Herbert Malin, who joined in 1956.

Under Norman Fain’s leadership, Teknor Apex carried out expansions and acquisitions that made it a national organization and accelerated its diversification. In plastics and chemicals this led to the startup of businesses in thermoplastic elastomer compounds, color concentrates, and plasticizers. Investment in technology enabled the company to develop many specialty compounds and become a leading supplier of vinyl and other materials to “specification”
industries like wire and cable and medical devices. During the presidency of Jonathan Fain, this
strategy has become international and has included the acquisition of Singapore Polymer Corp., which extends Teknor Apex’s reach to customers throughout Asia.

Today Teknor Apex employs more than 2,000 people in eight divisions at ten locations and supplies polymer materials to customers in 75 countries. Besides its plastics-related businesses, Teknor Apex produces the nationally distributed Apex (R) brand of garden hose.

Decades of Commitment to Public Service and Philanthropy in Rhode Island
Though in declining health in recent years, Norman Fain went to his office at Teknor Apex almost daily until six weeks prior to his death at Providence’s Miriam Hospital, for which he had worked as board chairman from 1971 to 1975.

In many years of public service, he also held positions on the boards of other institutions, including Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, The Rhode Island Foundation, the University of Rhode Island Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island, and Temple Beth El in Providence. He and his wife of 56 years, Rosalie, were generous contributors to philanthropic causes.

A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Norman Fain received an honorary doctorate in business from the university in 1967. In 1978, Brown University honored him with its Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education. And the Rhode Island School of Design presented him with the President’s Fellows Award in 1981 for leadership in and dedication to the arts.

Besides his wife and son, Norman M. Fain is survived by two daughters and seven grandchildren.