Xten Industries LLC plans to shut an injection molding facility it acquired two years ago.
Xten notified the state of Illinois that it plans to close its Lockport, Ill., operation beginning Oct. 29 with final layoffs scheduled for Nov. 11. In a Sept. 2 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, Xten stated 82 workers will be affected by the permanent closure.
Xten, a custom injection molder based in Kenosha, Wis., bought the Paramount Plastics LLC business in Lockport largely to access large tonnage injection presses and boost its molding capacity, a company official said at the time. Paramount ran presses as big as 2,000 tons, more than twice the size of Xten's previous largest press. Xten had been considering expansion by buying presses but decided the purchase would satisfy its need for more capacity as well as give it the experience of Paramount's staff and add new customers.
Xten officials did not return phone calls seeking comment on the closure. A City of Lockport official indicated the molding plant closure would not have a significant negative effect on the municipality of about 25,000 some 30 miles southwest of Chicago.
"The loss of Xten is a setback for sure, but we hope to reabsorb and renew the opportunity with continued positive economic growth efforts in our fine city," stated Lockport city administrator Ben Benson in an email.
The Lockport business, called PP IL LLC in its WARN notice and Xten Lockport in a local news report, is not unionized. The company gave no reason for the closure.
Xten logged sales of $48.5 million in 2013 according to Plastics News' injection molding survey. Its Kenosha and Lockport facilities together employed 223 and ran 57 injection presses. It molds a range of engineering and commodity resins for diverse markets. Its molding techniques include gas-assisted molding, insert molding, co-injection and multishot molding.