MCHENRY, Ill.—Chroma Color Corp. is closing a color concentrates plant in Calumet City, Ill., in a move that will eliminate 30 jobs.
Chroma acquired the Calumet City plant earlier this year as part of its acquisition of Plastics Color Corp. A Chroma spokesperson said that Calumet City employees will be given the opportunity to apply for jobs at other Chroma sites.
"Since the acquisition … we have been diligently exploring a wide array of opportunities to maximize the value we can bring to our customers with an optimal manufacturing footprint," Chroma CEO Tom Bolger said in a May 4 news release.
"After careful consideration and recognizing that we have ample capacity available on more advanced manufacturing equipment located at other Chroma Color manufacturing sites, the decision to close the Calumet City location has been made."
Bolger added that the decision "puts us in the best position to invest in the locations that will best serve our customers."
The company spokesperson said that the decision to close the Calumet City plant was made earlier this year and wasn't affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The acquisition of PCC, which had been based in Calumet City, also included a plant in Asheboro, N.C.
At the time of the acquisition, Chroma officials said that medical was PCC's largest end market. The firm also did work in building and construction, roofing, wire and cable and other sectors.
Chroma recently has invested more than $1.5 million in its other manufacturing sites. Sales vice president Bishop Beall said in the release that those investments include new equipment purchases, refurbishment of key equipment and assets, enhancements to lab capabilities and structural upgrades.
He added that the equipment upgrades included several twin-screw compounding lines, a high intensity mixer, a roto-cone blending system and additional lab equipment.
"With these investments…we are confident that this consolidation will allow us to deliver improved products, quality and service to our valued customers," Beall said. Chroma's other production sites beyond McHenry and Asheboro are in Delaware, Ohio; and Leominster, Mass.
Production work that had been done in Calumet City now will be done at other Chroma sites. Production at the Calumet City site is expected to end by July 31, with the site fully closing by the end of the year. Some equipment from Calumet City will be moved to other Chroma locations.
"We anticipate a seamless transition for current customers served out of Calumet City based on knowledge transfer and extensive experience at our other locations," Bolger said.
Last year, Chroma Color completed an expansion in Leominster that included an investment of more than $1 million for structural upgrades, new compounding lines, a dust collection system, a color development lab and warehouse and office improvements.
When the Leominster project was completed, Chroma closed a smaller plant in nearby Clinton, Mass. Most workers from the Clinton site transferred to Leominster at that time.
Investment firm Arsenal Capital Partners created Chroma Color in 2018 through the combination of three companies: Carolina Color, Breen Color Concentrates and the original Chroma Corp.
Chroma Color makes color concentrates based on a variety of resins for several markets. The firm employs about 400 and has annual sales of more than $160 million.