Thursday, June 17, 2004
SALEM -- A Salem-based automotive supplier has opened a plant in Canada to serve automakers and other suppliers there.
Blackhawk Automotive Plastics' plant in Mississauga, Ontario, employs 50 and has 40 plastic injection molding machines.
The plant makes custom interior trim for cars and trucks and can produce a wide range of decorative interior parts. It also has the capacity to produce exterior parts.
Clifford Croley, president and chief executive of Blackhawk, said the plant is a symbol of the company's commitment to its customers, who also have located plants in the area. Blackhawk's plant will serve as a satellite facility for the customers' plants.
Blackhawk has about 600 employees in Salem and also has plants in Sandusky and Mason, Ohio, and holds a minority interest in Nescor Plastics Corp. in Mesopotamia. The Blackhawk plants used to be part of Worthington Custom Plastics, but they were bought in 1999 by Croley and an investment group.
Blackhawk, which has $215 million in annual sales, operates 180 injection molding machines and ships between 25 million and 30 million a year.