Comco relocating to double plant size
FORT DEVENS, MASS.—Plastic sheet extruder and converter Comco Graphics of Cherry Valley, Mass., is investing $2 million to move its headquarters to Fort Devens.
This month the firm will move from a 20,000-square-foot building into a new, 30,000-square-foot facility that is expandable to 40,000 square feet. Comco, which employs 25, plans to double that in the next four or five years.
Equipment additions include a sheet line targeted at graphics arts applications and new slitting machines. The firm also serves the electrical, medical and computer industries, and has two other plants, in Bensalem, Pa., and Chicago.
FilmTec consolidates R&D and production
EDINA, MINN. — To improve efficiency, FilmTec Corp. of Edina has concentrated its global reverse osmosis and nanofiltration technical service, product development and manufacturing activities at its Filmtec facility in Minneapolis.
FilmTec, a unit of Dow Chemical Co., has moved its Membrane Technical Service & Development unit from Midland, Mich., to Edina, near Minneapolis, to join the Membrane Research and Development group, which has been located there since mid-1996.
FilmTec committed $16 million to the project, which includes a new membrane pilot manufacturing plant. The pilot plant allows R&D of new products and technologies, without interfering with normal production, the company said in a news release.
Dow is based in Midland.
Thermoformer adds PP fiber operation
CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — Thermoformer American Plastic Industries Ltd. of Chattanooga recently spent $3.5 million on a polypropylene fiber line and is considering an expansion of its West Coast presence with a warehouse and plant.
The manufacturer of PP cups wants to expand into turning PP into fiber for products such as landfill liners and pillows, said President Ray Amin. Some of the fiber used in the United States has been imported, but domestic production is increasing and there are ``tons of applications,'' he said.
The fiber line has a capacity of 2,500 pounds an hour, Amin said.
Thermoforming PP will remain the company's largest business and the focus of its planned western facility, which could begin with a warehouse within two years and expand to one or two thermoforming machines in another year, he said.
The facility could be about the same size as a 146,000-square-foot warehouse the company recently bought in Chattanooga, Amin said. American Plastic has spent about $10 million in the past year on thermoformers and the warehouse, and expects to increase sales to more than $25 million next year, from about $15 million now, Amin said.
Creative Acrylics getting new facility
KENOSHA, WIS.—Creative Acrylics of Kenosha plans to move to a new facility for sheet fabrication in December.
The move, which will cost about $1 million, will almost triple the firm's current size. The new, 20,000-square foot facility will make room for additional equipment, including saws, routers and drill presses.
Creative Acrylics, which has 10 employees, is planning to add 10-15 people by the end of the year. The company makes picture displays. According to a company spokesman, the company generated about $1.5 million in sales last year and hopes to double sales next year.
Rexam reorganizes packaging divisions
LONDON — Rexam plc has shuffled some packaging units, including a plastic film and sheet operation.
The London firm has switched its Rexam Flexible Packaging unit, based in Lakeville, Minn., from its food and beverage sector to its health-care packaging unit.
With annual sales of about £180 million ($297 million), Rexam claims world leadership in sterilizable medical packaging, and claims to be a major producer of pharmaceutical cartons and flexible packaging.
Goldman, Sachs buys Amscan Holdings Inc.
ELMSFORD, N.Y. — A unit of New York investment banking firm Goldman, Sachs & Co. has bought a majority stake in Amscan Holdings Inc., a maker of paper and plastic party supplies, in a deal valued at $315 million.
Amscan, based in Elmsford, is mainly a paper products company, but it has one plastic cutlery plant, a spokesman said.
Goldman Sachs Capital Parters II LP, a private investment fund managed by Goldman, Sachs & Co., will own 83 percent of Amscan.
GSCP will own 83 percent of Amscan, after purchasing most of the 72 percent of the company held by the estate of the firm's founder, John A. Svenningsen. About 7 percent of the firm will be held by Amscan management, and the rest by another shareholder. After the merger, Amscan will have $75 million in equity, with the rest of the purchase coming from debt. Amscan had 1996 sales of $193 million.
