Dennis J. Prischak '92g is the president and CEO of The Plastek Group, a position he has held since 2002. Headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, with manufacturing sites in North Carolina, Mexico, Brazil, and the United Kingdom, The Plastek Group is a global supplier of injection molding tools and rigid plastic-molded packaging founded in 1956.
Prischak joined The Plastek Group as a tool maker in 1983, shortly after earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University. He quickly rose through the ranks, holding the titles of process engineer, process engineering manager, and general manager–spectrum molding division. He then became global vice president–tooling and engineering, and in that role he played a key part in the company’s international expansion. In 2002, upon the retirement of his father, Joe Prischak, who founded the company, Dennis became President/CEO. He and his brothers Daniel, Douglas, and Donald run the company together as a second-generation family business.
Prischak earned his M.B.A. from Penn State Behrend in 1992. He serves on the Behrend Council of Fellows and is a Laurel Circle member of the Mount Nittany Society. He also is involved in various non-profits, including the Africa 6000 Board of Directors, the Erie Downtown Development Corporation Board, the Erie Children’s Museum, and more.
Recognizing the transformative power of automation in the workplace, Prischak and his brothers brought the idea to create a new chapter in academic pursuits to Behrend. In 2022, The Plastek Group and the Prischak family named the Prischak Robotics and Automation Lab at Penn State Behrend with a $1.2 million commitment. The family’s support for the inclusion of robotics and automation in Behrend courses and student research is a pivotal step forward in fundamentally reshaping the plastics industry and providing invaluable education for Behrend graduates.
Prischak and his wife, Tara, live in Erie and have three adult daughters, Sarah, Leah, and Emma.