Medical Packaging Company Will Close Milwaukee Plant
Shutdown is just the latest change for building once used to build boat engines.
6161 N. 64th St. in 2021. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The aftershock of a $7 billion merger between two medical packaging companies continues to be felt in Milwaukee.
The latest, and likely final, change will be the loss of 39 jobs at a northside plastics plant.
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice required Switzerland-based Amcor to sell three production facilities to be able to acquire Neenah-based Bemis for $6.8 billion.
The facilities divested included a 189,000-square-foot Milwaukee factory at 6161 N. 64th St., as well as a facility in Madison and another in Massachusetts. Flexible films and medical supplies firm TekniPlex purchased the facilities and related product lines on the basis of maintaining a competitive market.
Now it is closing the Milwaukee plant.
According to a “WARN” notice posted by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, warning of a company shutdown, the first layoffs are scheduled for March 27. The closure is to be completed on April 30.
No reason was given for the closure. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Last year, TekniPlex opened a second plant in Madison, a 200,000-square-foot facility for its barrier packaging systems business.
Some of the Milwaukee employees are represented by the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers/Communication Workers of America, Local 84101.
The company expressed excitement when it acquired the facility.
“TekniPlex’s medical products businesses – Colorite, Natvar and Dunn – have been supplying these same customers globally for decades, and we will continue to deliver on their quality and service expectations,” said then-CEO Paul Young in 2019. “The acquisition of these three plants also brings us 150 highly qualified and experienced employees who form the backbone of the business. We are happy to welcome them to the Tekni team of 3,000 strong across the world.”
TekniPlex now reports more than 9,000 employees across 60 locations on its website. It is headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The company has been owned by private equity firm Genstar Capital since 2017.
It is just the latest time the 64th Street building has turned over.
Prior to Amcor and TekniPlex, the property was home to Athea Laboratories, Capital Returns, Phoenix Products Co. and Pechiney Plastic Packaging. It was built as an assembly plant in 1957 for Outboard Marine Corp.’s Evinrude Motors division, but was sold by the business in 1988. Phoenix performed an environmental cleanup when it took over the property.
A New York-based company, Broadway Equities, has owned the property since 2017, the same year Amcor moved in.
The 21.3-acre property was listed for sale in September for $8.5 million.
The property is located in the Havenwoods Business Improvement District.
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