Plastic strapping leader Polychem Corp. will close its Milford, Mich., cord strapping site once it moves that work to its hometown of Mentor, Ohio.
Polychem is moving cord strapping production from RC Packaging Systems, a Milford, Mich.-based business that it acquired in 2011. Cord strapping production is expected to begin in Mentor in October, according to customer service manager Ali Hughes. Polyester cord strapping made by Polychem is sold into agricultural, recycling, paper and other markets, she added.
Over the next three years, Polychem plans to spend more than $500,000 on additional manufacturing in Mentor, while adding 31 jobs there. The firm also will lease another 13,300 square feet in one of the building it occupies and will spend $200,000 on the relocation.
Polychem also is receiving a $10,000 economic development grant from the city of Mentor for the project. A company spokesperson said in an email that cord strapping applications across various markets “provide consistent growth and increased market share” for Polychem.
The Milford plant will be closed after the expansion and relocation is complete. That site — which Polychem acquired in 2011 — employed 11 people in the office and production roles. Relocation positions, as well as severance and career counseling assistance, have been offered to the RC Packaging employees, the spokesperson said.
The expansion and relocation are being done in order to integrate cord production with existing operations in Mentor, scale up productions and deploy Polychem production synergies, according to the spokesperson.
“Our objective is to continue being a leader in the cord strapping securement market, offering the broadest selection of cord strapping, metal buckles, and cord accessories in the industry,” the spokesperson said.
Polychem makes polyester and polypropylene strapping, polyester woven and bonded cord, buckles, seals, corner board, and accessories. The firm also produces a full line of manual tools, power tools and fully integrated strapping systems for package securing.
Polychem opened in nearby Willoughby in 1974 before moving to Mentor. The firm has annual sales of $150 million and employs almost 160 in Mentor at two locations covering almost 300,000 square feet.
Other Polychem units include PET bottle recycler Evergreen Plastics of Clyde, Ohio; machinery maker Polychem OMS Systems of Leetonia, Ohio; and machine parts maker Anderson Parts of Meadville, Pa. Company officials said that Evergreen is the third largest PET recycling facility in the U.S. Polychem uses some of Evergreen's recycling output in its own products and also sells to outside customers.