O-I Iowa factory nearing completion
TOLEDO, OHIO - Owens-Illinois Inc. plans to open a new blow molding plant in Iowa City, Iowa, by June to make plastic containers.
Toledo-based Owens-Illinois will invest $11.7 million to open the 60,000-square-foot plant, its first in Iowa, said spokeswoman Sara Theis. The plant will start with fewer than 25 employees, but the facility has room for growth, Theis said.
Under an agreement with the Iowa City Economic Development Board, Owens-Illinois will be exempted from paying property taxes at the facility for five years, said Phil Thomas, marketing manager of the state Department of Economic Development in Des Moines, Iowa.
Owens-Illinois indicated to the city that the tax abatement will save the firm about $522,300. The application to the city also said the plant will make personal-care containers for a local Procter & Gamble Co. plant, although Theis declined to identify customers.
Quality Culvert opens Florida shop
ASTATULA, FLA. - HDPE pipe maker Quality Culvert Inc. is setting up shop in Astatula, near Orlando.
``There's an enormous amount of growth in this area,'' Vice President Carl Tyner said in a March 20 telephone interview.
Production should begin soon, though a definitive date has not been set, said Tyner. He would not disclose how many lines the facility will have, its size or number of employees..
Quality Culvert makes high density polyethylene, dual-wall pipe under the Q-Seal and Double Q brand names. The firm, based in Wausau, Wis., will take advantage of the yearlong season the Florida climate affords without giving up its Midwest customers, Tyner said.
He would not comment on whether the company will be moving machinery to Florida.
``We are still maintaining our customer base and full services in the Wisconsin facility as well, and I'll leave it at that,'' he said. ``We are not giving up our market share in Wisconsin. We worked too hard to achieve that.''
Privately held Quality Culvert has been in operation since 1998. Tyner would not disclose sales, but said ``it's a growing market.''
Accutec builds plant, triples space
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, ILL. - Custom injection molder Accutec Systems Inc. is poised for growth in a new, larger manufacturing plant in Elk Grove Village.
Accutec built a 130,000-square-foot facility, three times the size of its previous plant and office in Elk Grove Village, and moved there early this year. Marketing manager Jason Casto did not reveal the cost of the new plant. Accutec leased its previous building and had warehousing in a separate facility.
Casto said his firm added a reconditioned Van Dorn press following the move. It now runs 16 presses, with clamping forces of 75-1,000 tons.
Accutec has experienced broad-based growth among existing and new customers, Casto said in a telephone interview. Its markets include construction, consumer products, recreational goods and industrial components.
The company employs about 115 and had sales of about $5 million in 2000. Its services include assembly, product development and design, and tool building and repair. President Robert Krause founded Accutec about five years ago and continues to own the company.
Accutec also announced the promotion of Larry Sternal to the newly created position of vice president and general manager. He was manufacturing director.
D-M-E gains tooling groups' backing
MADISON HEIGHTS, MICH. - D-M-E Co. of Madison Heights has gained the backing of the major U.S. tooling associations for its online survey, which it hopes will be used with a government investigation of global competition.
The survey, launched March 20, has been endorsed by the American Mold Builders Association, the National Tooling & Machining Association, the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.'s Mold Makers Division, the Society of Plastics Engineers, the National Association of Manufacturers and several regional tooling groups.
The survey, at www.moldanddiefairtrade.org, must be completed by April 5.