Management team buys Extrusion Dies
CHIPPEWA FALLS, WIS. - Extrusion Dies Industries LLC has been purchased by a management-led team from U.S. Bank, based in Minneapolis, for undisclosed terms.
Timothy Callahan, EDI president and chief executive officer, said the May 30 deal will help it focus on innovation and customer service. U.S. Bank bought EDI eight months ago.
Managers of EDI included in the new ownership are Callahan; Chief Financial Officer Ronald Kuhnen; Christopher Curtin, executive vice president of sales and marketing; and John Ulcej, executive vice president of engineering and technology. A few private investors are also involved.
Chippewa Falls-based EDI ships more than 500 dies and coextrusion feed blocks annually, half of which are sold outside the United States.
Berry Plastics nabs APM's lid assets
EVANSVILLE, IND. - Berry Plastics Corp. has bought the injection molded overcap lid assets of packager APM Inc. and plans to add that product to its molding facility in Henderson, Nev.
Berry purchased the lid assets May 30 from APM for an undisclosed price. The assets generate about $2 million in annual sales, said Brent Beeler, Berry executive vice president and general manager for containers and consumer products.
Evansville-based Berry will move injection presses and molds from APM's plant in Benicia, Calif., to the Henderson location, Beeler said. The Nevada site produces open-top plastic drink cups and other containers, injection molded lids and closures, he said.
APM, based in Benicia, used the lids as a secondary seal on metal or paper cans for food packaging. The company makes glass bottles, corks, capsules and plastic closures for the food and wine industry.
Graham molding yogurt cups in France
YORK, PA. - Graham Packaging Co. LP has started making blow molded yogurt containers at a recently launched facility in France.
The rigid packaging company installed six blow molding lines at the 23,000-square-foot plant after investing more than $7 million to build and equip it with the high-speed machines, said Graham spokesman Don Sarvey.
The facility is making a custom-designed, polypropylene cup for a premium yogurt product popular in Western Europe, the company said in a June 4 news release.
No other details on the facility's launch, its location in France or the product were disclosed by Graham, citing a confidentiality agreement with a customer. The company also would not disclose whether the facility was collocated within a customer's plant.
York-based Graham recorded sales of $906.7 million in 2002.
Asian plastics shows delayed by SARS
GENEVA - Concerns over Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, have prompted the postponement of two Asian plastics trade shows.
Taipei Plas 2003 will not take place until March 18-21, 2004, at the Taipei World Trade Center. It originally was scheduled this year for Sept. 23-27. Meanwhile, Chinaplas 2003 has been rescheduled for Dec. 4-7. That event, originally to have taken place Sept. 9-12, still will be held at the China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing.
The Geneva-based World Health Organization, as of June 3, was recommending that travelers postpone trips to a number of locations, including Beijing and Taiwan.
A news release from Chinaplas officials said there had been ``significant improvements`` in the SARS epidemic, but ``many provincial governments in China are still restricting and/or discouraging inter-regional travels.''
Online preregistration for Chinaplas has been extended to Nov. 4 via the show's Web site, www.2456.com/chinaplas. The Web site for Taipei Plas is www.taipeitradeshows.com.tw/plas.
5th Solar worker involved in crash dies
LIBERTYVILLE, ILL. - Candida Gonzalez, one of seven Solar Corp. workers involved in an April automobile crash while commuting to work, died June 5. Gonzalez is the fifth to die from the accident.
Gonzalez was a passenger in a 1995 Chevrolet Astro minivan that collided with a flatbed trailer April 22. All the victims were from Chicago. One worker, 55-year-old Rosa Dominguez, remains in critical condition, according to a report in the Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago newspaper.
Gonzalez had been involved in a nearly identical tragedy nine years ago when four Solar workers were killed during a commute to the Libertyville injection molder, according to news reports.
