The former Encon/Eco-Groupe facility on Stop Eight Road will be closed by its new owner by year’s end, the company said Thursday.

Now owned by Amcor, the producer of PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate) preforms for bottle makers in Vandalia will be closed by Dec. 31, according to a release from Amcor Rigid Plastics.

“We don’t take this decision lightly but after careful review it is clear that this move will improve our level of service to existing customers and ensure future growth options,” Larry Weber, vice president and general manager of Amcor’s beverage business unit, said in the statement.

“We will be working to relocate as many (employees) as possible to other Amcor facilities,” a company spokesman said in an email.

Melbourne, Australia-based Amcor last year acquired the Dayton plant from Eco-Groupe, Inc. in a deal that included intellectual property assets and three other smaller pre-form production facilities in the United States.

Following the purchase, Amcor said it reviewed the Vandalia operation and the rest of its manufacturing assets in the U.S.

No notice of the planned closure appeared on the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice) board Thursday afternoon.

In 2012, Karin Gaiser — daughter of Encon founder Bill Gaiser and the company’s president and chief executive — told the Dayton Daily News that the then-Vandalia-based company was on the cusp of an $8 million expansion.

At the time, Eco-Groupe manufactured 3.5 billion preforms nationwide, including about 3 billion locally. Gaiser expected to produce 4.6 billion in 2013.

“This is always the hub,” Gaiser said then of the Vandalia location.

Last fall, Amcor Rigid Plastics bought the Eco-Groupe facility at 3435 Stop Eight for $1.8 million.

Amcor reported to shareholders that it paid $55 million for the Eco-Groupe manufacturing assets and intellectual properties.

 

Source : daytondailynews.com

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