Our founder, Steve Shortess, launched ADVANCED in 1979 with a modest beginning and the hope of becoming a self-employed business owner.  An uninsulated office space in the family's two-car garage, $5000 worth of inventory, a small delivery truck, and a rotary phone were the initial tools of the trade.  In the early years, the use of industrial plastics in the oil and gas and aircraft industries expanded quickly. ADVANCED first served as a supplier of basic materials, but soon markets grew to demand additional value-added services. As a result of these demands, ADVANCED added precision machining services to suit consumer demand. The first technological innovations used by ADVANCED were manual tools, basic NC machines, and TRS-80 computers from Radio Shack. Nearly 40 years ago, that technology and that identical vision were state-of-the-art.