Dart Container hits the big 5-0

Dart Container Corp. is typically a fairly private company -- that tends to be the case when you've got a CEO with a reputation like Kenneth B. Dart. But the company is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, so it took the opportunity to cooperate with the Lansing, Mich., State Journal on this long feature story. Some highlights:

• The company actually dates to the 1930s, but counts 1960 as the founding because that's when it shipped its first polystyrene foam cup.
• Dart wasn't the first foam cup maker -- it had more than a dozen competitors in the early days. But the company stood apart from the rest with its own proprietary technology, and by manufacturing and distributing its cups nationwide.
• Dart is "looking ahead to time when single-serving containers are made with biodegradable materials."

"We anticipate geographical growth, employment growth and product line growth, but we also see an evolution," Jim Lammers, vice president and general counsel for Dart, told the State Journal. "We look forward to getting into new technologies." Happy anniversary to the folks at Dart Container.