A Wisconsin packaging thermoformer is closing, causing more than 70 people to lose their jobs at year's end.
Portage Plastics Corp. has informed the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development the move is effective Dec. 31.
"All positions at this facility are being eliminated as a result of the closure. A total of 71 employees will be affected by this permanent closure," a letter from the company to the state reads. "Affected employees are expected to be laid off permanently, effective Dec. 31, 2022."
Some workers in Portage, Wis., could remain on the job for another two weeks to help with closure of the site, the company said.
Ryan Carlson, the court-appointed receiver for the company overseeing closure of the site, declined comment. The company's former CEO, who recently left to take another position, could not be reached for comment.
PPC is closing in Wisconsin through what is known as Chapter 128 of the Wisconsin Circuit Court system. The State Bar Association of Wisconsin calls Chapter 128 a little-known alternative to bankruptcy that "empowers a circuit court to appoint a trustee to administer the debtor's estate," in an article in Wisconsin Lawyer.
PPC serves the food, coffee, medical, automotive, marine, pool, spa, agricultural, consumer products and industrial segments. The company has provided both heavy- and thin-gauge products.
It is unclear if PPC's factory in Plant City, Fla., is also closing. PPC acquired Paradise Inc.'s plastics division in June 2020, in a $2.08 million deal that saved 30 jobs. A plant manager declined comment Nov. 4 and referred the call to a human resources manager who could not be immediately reached.
A 2020 Plastics News story about PPC also mentioned a location in Brownsville, Texas, but that facility is no longer included on the company's website.
PPC was founded in 1997, in part by former employees of Portage Industries Corp., a sheet and roll-stock extruder and thermoformer. Spartech Corp. bought Portage Industries in early 1996, and some of the employees bought the thermoforming portion of the business from Spartech.
PPC ranked No. 74 in the most recent PN survey of North American thermoformers, with estimated sales of $20 million.