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HPG Emerges From Bankruptcy Protection
HPG International, Inc., a privately-owned leader in the plastics industry, is now looking to the future after emerging from 21-months in bankruptcy protection.
According to HPG President John P. Dellevigne, a corporate-wide reorganization plan was approved by the federal courts in September. It included a $5.2 million reduction in costs, accomplished by closing a corporate headquarters in Somerset, NJ, and relocating all operations under one roof in Mountaintop, PA. Outside warehousing and converting services were also brought in-house.
Dellevigne reports that the downturn in the semi-conductor industry in 2000 hit the company hard, and compounded by roof warranty issues, lead to cash-flow problems. The company reported $2 million in losses in 2001 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection December 2001.
The next 21 months of restructuring lead to a leaner and more focused HPG that posted $49.3 million in sales in 2002 and was recently ranked 78th out of more than 200 in North America in film and sheet sales by Plastics News.
“We had a lot of people who believed in us, including the Johns Manville building supply company, who provided financial assistance and continued to do business with HPG during the reorganization period,” Dellevigne noted. “The union at the plant also contributed to the reorganization with one-year concessions from their contract.”
With the bankruptcy protection behind them, HPG officials have hired 20 new hourly employees bringing the total to 225 and is now operating 24-hours a day, five-days-a-week on some operations and seven-days-a-week on others.
The company produced more than 49 million pounds of plastic in 2002 in a diverse portfolio of products.
For more information, contact John Dellevigne, HPG International, Inc., 755 Oakhill Road, Mountaintop, PA 18707, 570-474-6741, Fax: 570-474-0998, Web: www.hpg-intl.com.
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