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28 | I NSIGH T • M a y 2 0 19 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m T hough it creates a product so infinitesimal it's invisible to the naked eye, microencapsulation is a big concept to understand. If contemplating working with microencapsulation technology gives people a "but … how?" reaction, Encapsys President Mary Goggans gets it and has a layman's explanation. "Basically, you're packaging a core in something like a bubble with a thin, hard shell," she says. "We actually make the bubble, the package, so our customers bring the core to us and we microencapsulate it." Appleton-based Encapsys provides microencapsulation solutions for industries ranging from consumer products to paints and coatings, and its phase-change materials can help consumers stay more comfortable, providing cooling properties in bedding materials and pillows. While microencapsulation in 2019 encompasses an ever-growing list of applications, its roots lie in a more prosaic product: paper. Appleton Papers began using the tool with carbonless paper in 1953. e core, in that case, is ink that breaks when a pen writes on it, creating the image on a four-part form. Today, carbonless paper represents a dying use for microencapsulation, Goggans says, but Appleton Papers, and later Appvion, continued to uncover applications for it. Encapsys operated as a division of Appvion through 2015, when it was spun off to Baltimore-based private investment firm Cypress Capital Group, forming an independent company. Following a nearly 25-year career with Kimberly-Clark Corp., Goggans joined the Encapsys division of Appvion in 2012 first as general manager and later as vice president before being named president aer the company's spinoff. Since that time, the company — as well as the number of uses for microencapsulation — has only grown. "I'm trying to take what was a division of scientists and turn us into a well-run company seeking more growth and new business opportunities," Goggans says. "I have great people here, and I have a great board who has supported us along this journey. We are very different than we were three years ago." Enc apsys c o n t i n u e d C O U R T E S Y E P P S T E I N U H E N A R C H I T E C T S Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects designed the state-of-the- art headquarters for Encapsys. The building, which was completed in 2017, incorporates abundant natural light and features best-in-class equipment for the company's scientist teams.