Becker Group laying off 420 workers STERLING HEIGHTS, MICH. — Becker Group LLC has given its official notice to Michigan officials it will lay off 420 people from its Sterling Heights plant.
Union officials said earlier this year they had been told of a pending shutdown of the automotive injection molding operation that produces interior trim.
Becker Group sent a federally required report to the Michigan Department of Career Development April 25 letting it know of the layoff set to take place in 60 days.
Becker officials were not available to comment.
Press crushes worker at Plastic Products
GREENFIELD, TENN. — A worker at a Plastics Products Co. Inc. plant in Greenfield died May 9 after crawling under a working hydraulic press.
Scotty Edmaiston, 36, was crushed from the weight of the injection molding press, said officials with the Lindstrom, Minn.-based company. The company declined further comment.
The 50,000-square-foot plant — one of seven owned by Plastic Products — was closed immediately after the accident and its 95 employees sent home, said Danny Harris, chief of the Greenfield Police Department. The plant had not reopened late last week.
Edmaiston was found under the press about 10 a.m. May 9. Efforts to revive him at the scene were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at Methodist Volunteer Hospital in Martin, Tenn., Harris said.
Edmaiston has worked at the plant for three years, company officials said.
Wynn's International opens subsidiary
SPRINGVILLE, KY. — Wynn's International Inc. has created a new subsidiary to handle both its own plastics manufacturing unit and a joint venture it inherited with its purchase of Goshen Rubber Co. late last year.
Wynn's Keeper Inc. of Springville combines the plastic blow molding operations of Wynn's-Precision Inc. with GKI Corp., a venture shared by Goshen and Keeper Co. Ltd. of Fujisawa, Japan, said Sy Schlosser, Wynn's chief financial officer.
Wynn's International of Orange, Calif., bought Goshen for $85 million in 1999. Goshen's GKI venture produces thermoplastic elastomer and rubber boots and bellows for the auto industry, including parts for rack-and-pinion steering and drive lines.
Wynn's-Precision also makes thermoplastic automotive seals.
Wynn's will own 80 percent of Wynn's Keeper, with Keeper maintaining a 20 percent stake.
Ticona, DSM building European PBT plant
SITTARD, NETHERLANDS — Two leading European producers of engineering polymers, Ticona and DSM, have announced they will construct a world-scale plant in Europe to boost capacity of polybutylene terephthalate.
Ticona, the technical polymers division of Celanese AG of Frankfurt, Germany, and DSM Engineering Plastics of Sittard, a division of DSM NV of Heerlen, the Netherlands, said they plan to start production in the new plant in 2003. Capacity will be roughly 88 million to 132 million pounds per year, according to a DSM spokesman.
Shareholder announces bid for Alltrista
INDIANAPOLIS — Alltrista Corp. announced May 12 that one of its major shareholders, Marlin Partners II LP, had made an offer to buy the entire company for about $172 million.
Alltrista, a publicly held company based in Indianapolis, is a major industrial thermoformer. The company, formerly part of Ball Corp., also makes home canning and zinc products.
Marlin Partners II is a private investment partnership based in Rye, N.Y. The firm already owns 9 percent of Alltrista's outstanding shares, according to Alltrista. Martin Franklin, former chairman and chief executive officer of Lumen Technologies Inc., is chairman and CEO of Marlin Partners II.
Marlin Partners II offered $30 per share for Alltrista, contingent on financing, due diligence and support of Alltrista management. Thomas Clark, Alltrista's chairman, president and CEO, said the proposal would be referred to the board of directors.
Prior to the offer, Alltrista shares were trading at $21.1875, near their 52-week low of $20.375. The company reported 1999 sales of $371.1 million, including $146.5 million in thermoforming-related sales.