Packaging
Solo to relocate North suburban Chicago Headquarters
Thursday 18. September 2008 - Highland Park manufacturing facility will close
Solo Cup Company today announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Lake Forest, Ill. Currently, Solos headquarters employees are spread across three office buildings in Highland Park and Lincolnshire. The company also announced the planned July 2009 closing of its manufacturing facility in Highland Park.
The headquarters employees are scheduled to move into leased office space at 150 S. Saunders Road in Lake Forest in summer 2009. They currently are located in the following buildings:
– 1700 Old Deerfield Road, Highland Park, Ill.
– 1660 Old Deerfield Road, Highland Park, Ill.
– 200 Tri State International, Lincolnshire, Ill.
“Relocating to one headquarters building will improve our efficiency and our ability to collaborate,” said Robert M. Korzenski, Solos president and chief executive officer.
The Company has recently signed a letter of intent to sell its property at 1700 and 1660 Old Deerfield Road in Highland Park with Annenberg Investments Ltd and Monroe Investment Partners LLC.
“This is a wonderful piece of property with many possibilities for redevelopment,” said Jeff Annenberg, principal, Annenberg Investments Ltd. “We look forward to working with the City of Highland Park to determine the use that will best serve the community.”
Solo will close its Highland Park manufacturing facility due to improved production efficiency across its base of 13 other North American manufacturing plants and to improve the utilization of its existing manufacturing capacity.
The plant closing will result in the elimination of approximately 420 full-time
manufacturing positions in Highland Park; although, approximately 200 full time jobs will be shifted to seven of Solos other U.S. locations. About one third of the transferred positions will remain in Illinois at the Companys Chicago and Urbana locations.
“These decisions are never easy because we know they affect the lives of our
employees,” Korzenski said. “Increased efficiency and investment in state-of the-art equipment are critical to being competitive in our industry and to positioning the company for growth, especially in the current economic climate. We have continued to improve the operating performance of our manufacturing facilities and we are able to be more productive in less space.”
According to Korzenski, all affected employees may pursue employment
opportunities at other Solo facilities and will be given priority over other candidates.
“Highland Park maintains a long-standing appreciation of the contributions that Solo Cup has made over the years to our community,” remarked Highland Park Mayor Michael D. Belsky. “While Highland Park never likes to see any of its businesses close or relocate outside the community, the City looks forward to working with the new property owner to develop an alternative use that is compatible with the community and positive for the Citys tax base.”
The City of Highland Park was informed of a potential move by Solo Cup and worked cooperatively with the company as they considered options for the site. Mayor Michael Belsky, City Manager David Limardi and Director of Community Development Michael Blue met with company representatives to review alternatives for maintaining the firms presence in Highland Park, Belsky said.