As a flower delivery boy in Israel, Daniel S. Temkin didn't know his drive to succeed would land him with the fastest growing floral-packaging supply company in the United States.
Temkin is president of Temkin International Inc. in Springville. The company manufactures floral and gift packaging.
Temkin's dream began in 1976, when at age 25 he left Israel and moved to Los Angeles in search of opportunity. Within the first year, he formed a floral-brick company that used urethane foam. He sold the company six months later to a major floral supplier.
In 1980, Temkin heard that the price of cellophane was increasing and knew of a new product called polypropylene, which would be a less expensive alternative. Temkin began taking orders to replace cellophane with polypropylene in a small corner booth in Los Angeles's Fresh Flower Market.
The demand rose for sheets, shorter rolls and printed polypropylene wrap. There was no machinery to produce these types of wrap, so Temkin designed and built machinery that could. He was the first manufacturer to provide high-clarity polypropylene products.
By 1981, Temkin had opened a 1,500-square-foot warehouse, which led to the 75,000-square-foot facility in Springville, which he moved into in 1994.
The facility produces polypropylene bags, paper bags, flower sleeves and floral wrap.
He also has a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Miami to help the company keep up with the demand for its growing product line.
Temkin International has grown more than 100 percent in the past three years and sells to more than 3,000 vendors throughout the United States.
Net annual sales have increased by 44 percent since 1997.
In the next year, Colombia, the country that is one of the world's largest flower growers, will be among Temkin's markets.
A warehouse in the northeastern United States or Canada is also in the works. Temkin hopes to capture a larger share of the market by having facilities in the East and West.