Vaupell Holdings Inc. is closing a composites-oriented facility in Lindenhurst, N.Y., and, over the next year, relocating the production to a Vaupell plant in Everett, Wash., according to an Aug. 3 report in the Long Island newspaper Newsday.
In mid-July, Vaupell informed customers about the move, plans to buy new production equipment for Everett and, temporarily, operate both facilities during the transition.
Employing 89 as of early 2016, the Lindenhurst site supplies composite parts and assemblies for the U.S. Army's Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and other aircraft through defense contracts with woman-owned small business GSE Dynamics Inc. of Hauppauge, N.Y.
The Lindenhurst facility began operations in 1951 as Russell Plastics Technology Co. Vaupell acquired Russell Plastics in June 2011.
Sumitomo Bakelite Co. Ltd. of Tokyo acquired Vaupell in June 2014 for $265 million and operates it as a division.
In addition to Everett, Vaupell has its headquarters in Seattle and, in addition to Everett, has operations in Agawam, Mass., largely for medical devices; Constantine, Mich., for implant devices incorporating bioabsorbable materials; Hudson, N.Y., for rapid prototypes; and Dongguan, China, in a Sumitomo location.
Vaupell ranked 66th in Plastics News' recent ranking of North American injection molders with estimated sales of $145 million and 110 presses.
