CLEARWATER, FLA. - Ven-Tel Plastics Corp. of Clearwater acquired equipment from a cell-phone molder's closed Texas plant and plans to move into a new, 104,000-square-foot facility in late 2001. Currently, Ven-Tel occupies 40,000 square feet.
Ven-Tel has 38 injection molding presses, up from 26 last year, but plans to sell five older machines during the next six months, said Steven Meitzen, vice president of sales and marketing.
``At this time we are not sure if we will replace the machines we sell,'' he said.
Ven-Tel pursued a broker's lead in Texas and dispatched five flatbed trucks to relocate the purchased equipment. President Ed Venner and five employees moved the machines to Florida and stored some in temporary rental space.
Nolato AB of Torokev, Sweden, decided in February to close its Fort Worth, Texas, plastics processing plant and consolidate its North American operations in Itasca, Ill. The move was prompted when major Nolato customer Telefon AB LM Ericsson opted to outsource mobile-phone production.
Ven-Tel, formed in 1982, is starting production contracts for new customers and requires upgraded equipment and more capacity. The firm employs 82 and projects 2001 sales of $6 million.