Peter Rye Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from GRCA

Brentwood is proud to share that former CEO Peter Rye was honored with the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance (GRCA) Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Manufacturing Summit. The award recognizes leaders who have made significant, long-lasting contributions to manufacturing in Berks County through innovation, integrity, and industry leadership.

Although Peter was unable to attend the event in person, Brentwood team members accepted the award on his behalf and delivered the remarks he prepared for the occasion. His message reflects on Brentwood’s 60-year history, the company’s evolution, the realities of global manufacturing, and the importance of local innovation and talent.

Below is the full text of Peter’s remarks as delivered at the Summit.

Remarks from Peter Rye at the 2025 GRCA Manufacturing Summit

Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Good morning and thank you for this honor. I’ll admit, this was a difficult speech to write. I’m proud of what we’ve built and the legacy of manufacturing here in Berks County. But I also have mixed feelings about where manufacturing in the U.S. is headed. It’s a time of great change, and that brings both opportunity and uncertainty.

My father and I were both engineers. He started his career at Dana; I began mine at Martin Marietta, now Lockheed Martin. Years later, we worked together to build Brentwood Industries, turning it into a leader in specialized plastic products for global markets. For us, manufacturing was a way to solve problems and make a business out of it.

This year marks Brentwood’s 60th anniversary, with 50 of those years under my family’s ownership. We’ve grown from a small operation in Reading to manufacturing in six countries. Yet we’ve never left the city where it all began.

We’ve had success — we’ve remained relevant in the markets we serve, financially strong, and privately owned. But success is never permanent. My father used to say that every year, the future is just as uncertain as the first. The formula that worked last year may already be obsolete. So, we’ve always approached each new year with the same determination we had at the start.

When we began, we were a “job shop” — molding parts for customers who owned the designs. Our expertise was in the process. Our success depended entirely on theirs. We eventually realized that being good at manufacturing wasn’t enough. We needed control of our own destiny.

That realization led to one of the biggest pivots in our history. We began focusing on building markets for our own products — developing expertise in end applications and manufacturing only where it made strategic sense. Today, we produce about 60% of what we sell, and that balance gives us stability and direction.

It sounds logical now, but at the time it was a huge shift. We even changed how we measured success — from plant profitability to product group profitability — so our focus would be on growing the right products, not just the right volumes. It changed how we thought, planned, and worked together. We went from being a manufacturing company to being a solutions provider. That pivot has been my greatest contribution to the company.

During my 12 years on the Chamber board, including time as Chair, I was part of the group that helped create the GRCA by bringing together the three organizations that came before it — the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Greater Reading Economic Partnership, and the Greater Berks Development Fund. I understand GRCA’s mission — to strengthen this region through manufacturing and economic growth. We want to support, promote, and grow industries that create jobs and opportunity here in Greater Reading.

And I believe true growth comes from product innovation. Manufacturing follows innovation, not the other way around. Whether it’s a Brentwood product, a specialty dessert, or a custom crane, local innovation creates local production and local jobs.

That kind of innovation depends on people. Reading remains Brentwood’s home for product development because of the talent we have here. Whether we’re designing new products or improving operations, our future depends on people who are curious, capable, and willing to keep learning.

Technology — especially AI — won’t replace employees, but it will raise expectations. The challenge is to adapt, to keep reinventing ourselves before we become obsolete. Those who do will find opportunity. Those who don’t will lose relevance.

And that lesson applies far beyond Reading. Paradigm shifts always create winners and losers. Around the world, manufacturing is evolving. China is no longer the low-cost producer; it’s highly capable. India and Vietnam now fill that role.

What remains of U.S. manufacturing depends on what we do best — specialized skills, local resources, and high customization. That’s still a strong foundation. Innovation in products and processes will do more to extend the runway for domestic manufacturing than any trade policy can.

I remain optimistic about what’s possible here in Reading. GRCA’s commitment to economic development, and the City’s CRIZ program that reinvests state tax revenue into redevelopment, both offer real opportunity. If anyone here today is considering expansion, I’d encourage you to look seriously at Reading.

Manufacturing has always been about building — not just products, but possibilities. My hope is that the next generation of manufacturers here in Berks County keeps building — smarter, stronger, and together.

Thank you.

We congratulate Peter on this well-deserved recognition! It highlights the impact one leader can make — not only on a company, but on an entire region’s manufacturing landscape. His reflections remind us that innovation, adaptability, and community investment are the principles that will shape the next 60 years of Brentwood and the future of manufacturing in Berks County.