Northern Engraving to close tool shop
SPARTA, WIS. — Northern Engraving Corp. is closing its Luxco Division tool and die shop because of “significant, unanticipated decreases” in sales and new tooling orders for its U.S. automotive and appliance industry customers.
Sparta-based Northern Engraving said in a recent news release that it will phase out operations at Luxco, based in La Crosse, Wis., during the next several months.
Luxco has 26 employees and provides toolmaking and maintenance operations for Northern Engraving's parts.
Plaskolite purchases Optiglass division
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Plaskolite Inc. has purchased the coating division of Optiglass PC LLC of Cincinnati, Ohio.
“Purchasing Optiglass is all about our commitment to the coating market,” Plaskolite President James Dunn said in an Oct. 21 news release.
Richard Filiault, a former GE Plastics executive, launched Optiglass last year after buying Si Kote Technologies Inc., a Cincinnati sheet-coating business that had been in operation for almost 20 years.
Columbus-based Plaskolite has been on the acquisition hunt for several years. Its biggest purchase to date was the 2007 acquisition of the continuously processed sheet division of Lucite International Inc.
Founded in 1950 by the Dunn Family, Plaskolite claims to be the largest privately owned U.S. manufacturer of continuously processed acrylic sheet. The company has $220 million in annual sales and 475 employees, with plants in Columbus and Zanesville, Ohio; Grand Saline, Texas; Olive Branch, Miss.; Monterrey, Mexico; and Compton, Calif.
Shelburne mulls new blow molding plant
SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT. — Blow molder Shelburne Plastics Inc. said it might build a $4 million plant in Monticello, N.Y., to supply large bottles for customer Boreal Water Collection Inc.
Shelburne of South Burlington, would employ 50 people at the plant, which would focus on large containers, Tim McCausland, president of Sullivan County Partnership, an economic development group, said in an Oct. 21 telephone interview.
The firm also has operations in New Hampshire and Maryland.
Montreal-based Boreal expanded into New York in April with its acquisition of Leisure Time Spring Water of Kiamesha Lake, N.Y., and asked Shelburne to establish a plant nearby to help reduce shipping costs, McCausland said.
Injection mold toolmaker receives grant
CRYSTAL LAKE, ILL. — Toolmaker Frontline Mold Technologies Corp. has received a grant through the Small Business Administration to help develop new mold-cooling techniques.
Frontline, based in Crystal Lake, was one of the final companies approved through a pilot program with the McHenry County Economic Development Center's Business Accelerator for Innovation and Collaboration fund. The company received $6,750, Jim Allen, manufacturing director for the economic development group, said in an Oct. 19 telephone interview. The accelerator fund has given out $150,000 worth of grants in the past three years.
Frontline builds injection mold tooling for a variety of industries including auto, electronics and medical.
Firm claims products degrade in 90 days
LOS ANGELES — Repurpose Compostables Inc. has introduced a line of polylactic acid cold cups and cutlery.
According to the Los Angeles-based company, its products can withstand heat of up to 220° F and are able to biodegrade in three months.
“Having worked in the green industry for 10 years, I found there was not a wide variety or a high-enough-quality product out there, so we set out to make one,” CEO Lauren Gropper said in a news release. “We feel that this market is severely underserved, and as consumers continue to flock to businesses offering green alternatives, this market is going to continue to grow.”
Gropper said businesses want to switch over from using petroleum-based plastics.
Repurpose products meet the ASTM D6400 standard for compostability. The products were introduce at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
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