Chroma Color Corp. is closing a materials plant in Delaware, Ohio.
Employees at the site were informed of the closing on Aug. 22. Production will be moved to Chroma locations in Salisbury and Asheboro, N.C.; Leominster, Mass.; Lambertville and Newark, NJ; and McHenry, Ill.
Production in Delaware is expected to end in late October with the facility fully closing by year-end. The Delaware location makes color concentrates for a variety of industries.
"We want to thank our Delaware employees for their years of service and are hopeful that as many of them as possible will transfer to open Chroma positions at other locations," CEO Shruti Singhal said in a news release. "These are always difficult decisions and we do not make them without careful deliberation.
"In addition to offering assistance to our affected employees at the site, we have established a focused support team to ensure a seamless transition for our valued customers, many of whom already have working relationships with the other Chroma locations where work is being transferred," he added.
The Delaware site employs fewer than 50 people. At least some are expected to transfer to other Chroma sites.
McHenry, Ill.-based Chroma has established Manufacturing Centers of Excellence and has invested in personnel, capital equipment and business management systems at those locations. Officials said these changes have also created flexible capacity and agility in Chroma's operations resulting in faster responsiveness and deeper connectivity to customers.
"With these improvements and capacity expansions … the decision was made to transfer assets and absorb existing production into [Chroma's] other manufacturing sites and cease operations at their smallest site," in Delaware, they added.
Chroma supplies specialty color and additive concentrates. Its markets include health care, consumer products, packaging, wire, cable and pharmaceuticals. Investment firm Arsenal Capital Partners combined Chroma with materials firms Carolina Color, Breen Color Concentrates and Breen's Hudson Color unit in mid-2018.
Since 2018, Chroma has made nine acquisitions, most recently acquiring color concentrates maker J. Meyer & Sons Inc. of West Point, Pa., in late 2021.