Moe Kessler Dies in New York

Moe Kessler, founder, president and ceo of Outwater Plastics Industries (Wood-Ridge, N.J.), died on Dec. 4, 2001, in New York. He was 76.

Kessler established Outwater Plastics Industries in 1972 as a source of customized-order extruded plastic mouldings for small furniture and cabinet manufacturers. Previously, all plastic extrusions required substantial minimum quantities.

As an employee for a large wholesale hardware company in New York, just out of the Navy, Kessler saw the potential advantages in manufacturing with and using plastic and experimented with manufacturing mouldings out of plastic rather than the then-conventional materials. Kessler began to manufacture other plastic extruded mouldings that until then had only been available in metal.

Soon after establishing his business, Kessler was hit by a car and suffered a severely fractured leg. Unable to call on customers, he began promoting his products through a simple catalog, which he ultimately credited as the most significant factor in the growth of his business.

From a single product in August 1972, Outwater Plastics and its corporate affiliate, Architectural Products by Outwater, with facilities in New Jersey and Arizona, today supply nearly 40,000 standard and customized component products to numerous industries.

Kessler is survived by his second wife, Linda, sons Richard and Peter Kessler and three grandchildren. Sylvia Kessler, his first wife of more than 40 years, died in 1995.