Francis Zrostlik was the founder of both Iowa Mold and Tooling (IMT) and Stellar Industries in Garner. He built the two companies into the worldwide organizations they are today. His son Dave Zrostlik is now the President of Stellar Industries. He was humbled when he learned that the city was honoring his late father on his birthday on Monday.
Francis led by both example and through teaching his son how to succeed at business. The greatest example was through ingenuity.
Dave Zrostlik learned a lot from his father, but he is quick to point out that his mother was and still is just as involved in the company. She too is a great teacher.
Dave took the examples and business teachings of his father to heart and made an industry leader through a simple premise.
Some corporations leave their rural roots behind and go to the big cities and towns for various reasons such as employee pools, visibility, or perceived growth opportunities. Not Stellar Industries. The company sees that those opportunities are still very strong here in northern Iowa.
Stellar now employs over 800 people throughout the employee-owned company.
