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CELEBRATING HISTORY & INNOVATION

HOW ROY WEIKERT CREATED GENERAL FILMS, INC.

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This story is about curiosity. The kind that sets visionary entrepreneurs apart from other business people. It's also about a family business, innovation, tenacity, and a 25-cent steam tank (more about that later). Mostly, this is the story of General Films, Inc. founder Roy Weikert who, at age 105, walked daily for exercise, which was a key to his good health, played the stock market for fun and profit, and as Chairman of the Board of the company he began in 1938. 

 

Covington, Ohio-based General Films, Inc. serves a wide range of industries with custom extruded film solutions, bag-in-box systems, VFFS, and industrial packaging. But the company began with a young Roy Weikert, his new fedora, and a jar of Brilliantine.

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CHRONOLOGY OF ROY WEIKERT & GENERAL FILMS, INC.

1913

1935

October 22, 1913: Roy Weikert is born near Arcanum, Ohio

Roy decides to head west with 2 friends. They load up a 1929 Buick with camping gear. Roy ends up working in an F. W. Woolworth store in Davenport, Iowa

1943

1950-60s

Roy enters the U.S. Army to serve in World War II

  • As the hat business declines, Roy investigates other opportunities, including bag-and-box systems for dairies
     

  • 1960s, General Films begins making its own plastic film

1980-Future

General Films, Inc. grows through product innovations and expansion into new markets with Roy’s nephew Tim Weikert as the company CEO. Roy J. Weikert 1913-2019

1925

  • Weikert family moves to Covington, Ohio
     

  • During the Great Depression, Roy works in a grocery store earning 10 cents per hour

1938

Roy develops hat liners and hat covers made from Pliofilm

1947

Following the war, Roy restarts his business in Covington with his brother, Wayne

1970s

  • Roy builds a second factory in Sidney, Ohio
     

  • Inflation, business fall-off and debt force the company into reorganization. The Sidney facility is sold off and the company retrenches in Covington

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THE MEMORY, LEGACY, AND VISION OF FOUNDER ROY WEIKERT

 
 

We recently welcomed our employees and their families to General Films for a day of celebration and remembrance. This special day of appreciation for our staff was planned to honor the memory of General Films founder, Roy J. Weikert. Together we shared food, fellowship, and fun, celebrating our legacy of Roy and displaying the future of our company. The day’s activities included food trucks, face painting, games, and entertainment. The General Films plant was opened for tours, featuring several of Mr. Weikert’s most significant contributions to our industry. 

FOUNDER, FRIEND, AND INDUSTRY ICON

See the extraordinary life and vision of Founder Roy J. Weikert