Jarden Home Brands to relocate its HQ
DALEVILLE, IND. - Jarden Home Brands plans to invest more than $3 million to move its headquarters to a new location in Indiana later this year.
Jarden Home Brands will move from Muncie to Daleville, adding 42 jobs, according to a news release from Indiana Economic Development Corp.
The injection molder makes Diamond-brand plastic cutlery as well as Ball and Kerr canning supplies, and Pine Mountain fire logs. It is a subsidiary of publicly traded Jarden Corp. of Rye, N.Y.
IEDC said it has offered the company $380,000 in performance-based tax credits and $130,000 in training grants. Delaware County also is offering property tax abatements.
Jarden Home Brands said it will continue its metal lid and canning-related manufacturing in Muncie, once the headquarters has moved.
Private equity nabs Berlin Packaging
LONDON - Private equity group Investcorp of London has acquired majority ownership of packaging distributor Berlin Packaging LLC, based in Chicago.
Berlin Packaging distributes plastics, glass and metal containers, closures and dispensing products to end markets including food and beverage, personal care, and chemicals.
Andrew Berlin heads the company and has been president and chief executive officer for the past 19 years, according to a news release.
Officials did not return calls seeking comment before deadline.
Andrew Berlin will become chairman, in addition to his role as CEO. Melvin Berlin had been chairman since 1988.
In the news release, officials said Berlin Packaging will continue to grow organically but also will make selective acquisitions. Berlin has 25 locations throughout the United States and annual sales of more than $300 million.
Sister firms Lindar, Intec Alliance merge
BAXTER, MINN. - Thermoformer Lindar Corp. has merged with sister company Intec Alliance LLC to combine the two firms' expertise.
Lindar, based in Baxter, announced the merger June 20. President Tom Haglin owns Lindar. In addition, he owned a stake in Intec Alliance.
Lindar's main work is thermoforming packaging for food, medical, paint sundries, consumer goods and other industries. It has worked closely with Intec Alliance, a packaging developer but not a producer, since 2000. The firms recently came up with a new line of bakery and produce clamshells they believe will be best exploited by joining their resources, Haglin said in a telephone interview.
Besides packaging experience, Intec Alliance brings a sales office in Minneapolis to Lindar, which plans to keep the office open.
Haglin said one of his firm's hottest markets is the food industry, where it sells containers thermoformed of polylactic acid. Lindar also thermoforms PET, polystyrene and high density polyethylene in Baxter. Although most of its jobs are light-gauge work, it does some heavy-gauge production as well. Lindar was established in 1993 and Intec Alliance was founded seven years later.
Lindar reported 2006 thermoforming sales of $10.2 million.
Express Pattern adds space to factory
VERNON HILLS, ILL. - Prototype molder Express Pattern Inc. has expanded its Vernon Hills facility by 5,000 feet to provide space for its continued growth.
The company recently took over manufacturing space adjacent to its site, growing to 20,000 square feet, Tom Mueller, an Express Pattern co-founder, said during a July 12 telephone interview.
The firm, founded in 1999, now has 25 employees, 12 stereolithography machines and nine thermojet systems for rapid-prototype work.
