Ardagh wins top honors in the UK

Ardagh Group, parent company of glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, has been named Packaging Company of the Year in the United Kingdom.

The award came this week at an event in London.

Judges called Ardagh, a multinational company based in Luxembourg with roots in Ireland, “the clear winner.”

“We are delighted to win this fantastic award, which reflects our long-established record of investment in product innovation, operational excellence and sustainability,” Ardagh’s chairman and chief executive officer Paul Coulson said in a prepared statement.

“All 2,500 colleagues at our nine UK plants have contributed to Ardagh’s successful development into a leading global packaging group over the past two decades, and can feel justifiably proud of this latest accolade. We remain focused on the further growth and development of our business in the UK and globally.”

Ardagh also won the Glass Pack of the Year Award for a preserve jar that looks and feels like citrus peal.



Collecting

Kaup Pharmacy is holding a toy drive this month.

The business is collecting unwrapped new and gently used toys for children of all ages for Project Joy. The toys will be donated to families in need and charitable organizations, and are being accepted until Dec. 15. In Fort Recovery, donations can be dropped off at Kaup Pharmacy, 102 N. Wayne St., and Fort Recovery Elementary/Middle School, 865 Sharpsburg Road. In Berne, toy collection boxes are located at Kaup Pharmacy, 104 W. Main St., and South Adams Schools, 1075 Starfire Way. 



Resort on track

A new resort is on track for a 2018 opening on West Bank Road at Grand Lake in Celina, Ohio.

Boardwalk Resort, which has been described as a condominium/hotel-style resort, is being developed by Lakefront Maritime Developers and a consortium of companies.

To make way for the project four cabins were torn down earlier this month.

Plans call for four four-story buildings on a site of nearly five acres, though just one of those is included in the first phase. There will be 132 units ranging in size from 527 to 908 square feet. The complex will also include a swimming pool, retail space, and a conference area.

The project has been cleared for construction by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. West Bank Road is located just south of downtown Celina.



New plant

Tyson Foods Inc., parent company of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland, plans to build a new chicken production facility in Humboldt, Tennessee, The Associated Press reported this week.

The $300 million complex is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs and begin operations in late 2019.

The AP said the new plant will produce pre-packaged trays of fresh chicken for supermarkets.

Construction is expected to begin within three to six months on a 500-acre site. The complex will include a hatchery, feed mill, and processing facility.



No threat

Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd., parent company of MSSL Wiring Systems of Portland, doesn’t see electric vehicles as a threat but an opportunity, Bloomberg reported this week.

Electric vehicles are a fraction of total car sales worldwide and “I don’t know why everybody finds it so fearsome”, chairman Vivek Chaand Sehgal told Bloomberg. It’s not a disruption but just another option to drive and Motherson is agnostic to it, he said.

Sehgal also said the company is on track to meet its 2020 growth target of $18 billion in revenue.



Have a wing

Arby’s announced Tuesday that it is buying Buffalo Wild Wings for $2.4 billion.

BWW, a popular competitor to restaurants like Portland’s Buffalo Wings and Rings, has reported falling sales, down 2.3 percent at established sites.

Buffalo Wild Wings is expected to continue to operate as an independent brand, Arby’s spokesmen said.

A number of other restaurant brands have changed hands this year, including Panera Bread and Ruby Tuesday Inc., both of which were acquired by private equity firms.

Stock analysts told The AP that BWW and Atlanta-based Arby’s seemed to be a good fit for one another.



Bigger share

CBS reported this week that Walmart’s online business is surging, catching many retail analysts by surprise.

While Amazon grabbed about 45 to 50 percent of the online shopping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Walmart’s share in the same period was 10 percent, according to market researcher GBH.

That’s more than double Walmart’s online sales in the same period a year ago.

"Walmart has significantly increased its [market] share and has done a very commendable job," CBS quoted Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer and head of technology research at GBH, as saying. Ives added that Walmart has become "more aggressive on pricing. It’s really a battle royale between Amazon, Walmart and everybody else.”

"Walmart two years ago was reacting to everything that Amazon is doing," Brian Yarbrough, of Edward Jones told CBS. "Now, Walmart is more on the offensive. They are being more aggressive."



New CEO

Sonoco Products, parent company of Sonoco Protective Solutions of Portland, this week announced a change in top leadership.

Jack Sanders, president and chief executive officer, will be retiring April 2, 2018.

He’ll be succeeded by Robert Tiede, the current executive vice president and chief operating officer. Tiede will also be named to the company’s board of directors at that time.



Applauds move

The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to maintain the current point of obligation under the Renewable Fuel Standard has drawn praise from the chief executive officer of POET Biorefining.

“By maintaining the point of obligation for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the EPA is allowing the system to continue to work as designed. Under the RFS, infrastructure for biofuel-blended fuel is expanding, with opportunities for additional consumer-driven growth,” Jeff Broin said in a press release issued last week.

“The RFS works, evident from the numerous benefits it allows Americans to enjoy today: cleaner air, fewer carcinogens in gasoline, lower fuel costs and increased energy independence. President Trump has vowed to preserve the RFS. I applaud the President and EPA for standing up to special interest groups within the oil industry who seek to undermine American-made biofuels,” Broin said.



Pick Anderson

A Fort Wayne company will invest $30 million in the first phase of a cold storage facility in the Flagship Enterprise Center in Anderson, The Herald Bulletin reported this week. The facility is expected generate 60 jobs in the area by the end of 2018.

The Anderson newspaper reported that Interstate Warehousing Inc.has purchased 77 acres near the intersection of Layton Road and 73rd Street.

The 250,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of next year. 



Berne annexes

Land for a new housing development in Berne has been annexed by the Berne City Council at the request of the developer.

The site is just south of the Berne Fire Station.

Developer Gary Liechty plans to construct custom-built villas under the name Courtyard Las at that location and will begin selling lots next spring.