Fred Garcia, former CEO of resin distributor Bamberger Polymers, died on Aug. 7 at age 85.
Garcia served in the U.S. Army before working for the plastics businesses of Colombian Carbon Co. and its acquirer, Cities Service Co., in the 1960s. At Colombian, Garcia met Gerald Bamberger, who would found Bamberger Polymers when Cities Service divested its plastic compounding and trading business in 1967. At that time, Garcia became a junior partner with the new firm.
Bamberger Polymers began as a small regional reseller of plastic resins in the northeastern United States. Garcia was responsible for the firm's international expansion, building successful operations around the world. He set up Bamberger's Canadian subsidiary in 1969 and its European unit in the Netherlands in 1974.
Garcia was named Bamberger's CEO in 1984, shortly after the firm was acquired by Helm Resources Inc. Bamberger went public in an initial public offering in 1987 before Garcia and other executives, including Lawrence Ubertini, bought out its resin distribution unit in 1993. The management team then took that business private once again.
Today, Jericho, N.Y.-based Bamberger ranks as one of the world's largest resin distributors, supplying more than 1 billion pounds of material annually.
Garcia retired from Bamberger in 2004. In a news release after his death, company officials described Garcia as “not only a true visionary in plastics distribution, [but also] a great humanitarian, loving husband, father and grandfather.”
Bamberger officials added that Garcia was a generous contributor to the community, who built a home for the education of disadvantaged girls in Veracruz, Mexico, where he was born.
Garcia is survived by his wife Margareta, two children and three grandchildren.