Investors to restart Ky. auto supply plant
HOPKINSVILLE, KY. - A group of entrepreneurs has purchased a closed auto supply plant in Kentucky with plans to re-establish production at the facility.
Melleck LLC of Hopkinsville is contacting customers of the former Venture Holdings Co. LLC reaction injection molding site in Hopkinsville to try to sign them up once again.
``The facility had a good reputation and we're trying to capitalize on that,'' said President Ken King in a Dec. 27 telephone interview.
King and his partners purchased the building and its equipment for an undisclosed price in early December from Cadence Innovation LLC, the Sterling Heights, Mich.-based company that now owns the properties left behind after Venture's bankruptcy filing.
The factory closed in early 2005. The bulk of the 160 workers who made bumper fascia and other RIM auto parts still are in the area and ready to return to work once Melleck can sign on customers, King said. The 106,000-square-foot plant includes both molding and painting operations.
``This was a very respected, very profitable business and we saw it as a great opportunity,'' he said.
More woes ahead for Nova Ontario plants
PITTSBURGH - The challenges faced by Nova Chemicals Corp.'s Ontario plants in 2005 will carry over into 2006.
Pittsburgh-based Nova stopped production of ethylene and other plastic feedstocks at its Corunna, Ontario, plant Dec. 28 - only six days after the plant had restarted after a lengthy maintenance and modernization outage.
Nova officials said the plant - which also makes feedstocks propylene, benzene, toluene and butadiene - would be down for 12-16 days for additional compressor seal repairs. Nova's polyethylene works in nearby Sarnia also will remain shut down as a result of the situation in Corunna.
The Sarnia site - with 1.2 billion pounds of annual PE capacity - had been out of operation since early November. Customers had been receiving material from other Nova sites.
The overall production problem is expected to cost Nova between $60 million and $70 million in its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2005.
Nova's problems in Ontario have tightened North American markets for PE and ethylene, which already were constricted in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Progressive worker dies in plant accident
CLEVELAND - An employee of Cleveland-based Progressive Plastics Inc. died Dec. 22 in an electrical accident when he was burned by an arc blast while attempting to reposition a buss duct, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Dennis Beaune, 44, of Sheffield, Ohio, was injured in the accident in the early afternoon. He died about six hours later at MetroHealth Medical Center.
Darlene Fossum, assistant area director of safety at OSHA's Cleveland office, said Beaune suffered serious burns. ``It was not an electrocution. He died from burns from the arc blast,'' she said.
Progressive Plastics makes bottles using blow molding and injection molding. A company official did not return telephone calls for this story.
OSHA, which was informed of the incident by Cleveland police, is investigating, Fossum said.
Blaze destroys Ohio recycling facility
PEMBERVILLE, OHIO - An early morning fire Dec. 24 destroyed the Moore Diversified Industries Inc. plastics recycling plant.
Matt Appelhans, third assistant chief of the Pemberville Village Fire Department, said it was one of the largest fires in town during the past seven years. He said the first alarm was called in at 5:33 a.m. and eight companies offered aid to battle the blaze for about six hours. There were no injuries reported.
Appelhans said the fire report has not been completed, and the cause is being determined.
Moore Diversified Industries occupied a building estimated at about 8,000 square feet. A 1,000-square-foot shed also was damaged. Owner Larry Moore did not return calls.
A local newspaper reported the company had two employees and the facility was insured.