In little over a year, Shannon Walls has watched over the production of more than 1.2 billion paper plates.

He was charged with overseeing an East Coast expansion for his company, Missouri-based, Aspen Products Inc.

Now the plant, which employs about 130 people, is getting ready to expand.

We thought it wise to ask Walls about his ways.

Q. How have you exceeded your goals?

It’s not a one man show and it never can be! It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment but it takes all of those things from a large number of people in order to make it all work. The key is to have the right people in the right positions. I have gotten extraordinarily lucky with some of the talent we have found here in Richmond and without those people working their tails off we wouldn’t be where we are. I also must give plenty of credit to our corporate office in Kansas City, they have established a corporate culture that makes our growth and success possible.

Q. Have you made any changes at your facility to increase productivity?

Sometimes you get lucky and you get a productivity boost from doing the right thing like adding better lighting, upgrading restroom/breakroom facilities and adding ergonomic aides. But often you have to work very hard to become productive and/or efficient. You can’t be afraid to change or you will not survive! Try something, if it doesn’t work….try something else!

Q.As a manger, how do you keep employees motivated during tough times?

Questions of motivation are tough during any economic times! People choose to be either motivated or unmotivated. I think where we have had luck is that we are big believers in the American dream, therefore, we take care of the people that take care of us. I promote from within (almost exclusively) and we don’t have a lot of bureaucratic red tape so there is not a long climb to the top. With enough hard work and dedication anyone can work their way to the top of this company!

Q. How many employees? Are you hiring?

We are currently hovering around the 130 employee mark. Right now we are doing a limited amount of hiring to stay at our current level. However over the next six months we will be adding more equipment and more jobs. We have at least 6 more machines coming this year which will generate another 45 jobs all together. That is a conservative estimate.