Packaging Solutions Holdings Announces Prolamina as Corporate Name, Additions to Management Team and Location of New Flexible Packaging Plant

LAKE FOREST, Ill., May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Packaging Solutions Holdings, Inc. ("Prolamina" or the "Company"), announced today the addition of several key executives, the location of its new plant in Wisconsin and the unveiling of its corporate name.  

Harold Bevis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are excited about the future as we are implementing our plan to create a leading packaging company in our selected markets. We are proud of the solid foundational work created over many decades by the current management team and are fortunate to be able to add a higher level agenda to the combined enterprise. It takes the right people, products, assets, technology, customer partnerships and supplier partnerships to do this and we are carefully assembling a great company to meet the needs of our customers across North America. Today, we are announcing important steps toward building the Company with a cohesive commercial game plan, industry-leading product line-up, integrated service infrastructure and unified operations structure."  

Additions to Team

Prolamina has added some seasoned veterans to its leadership team.

• Dairy Market Manager - Mark Butler will lead the specialty lamination commercial efforts in the dairy market.  With 15 years of sales experience in the plastics and packaging industry, Mr. Butler is well versed in the competitive landscape and has a proven record of increasing sales.  Mr. Butler joins Prolamina from Printpack LLC and has also worked at Reynolds Flexible Packaging, American Plastics Company and Curwood Bemis Packaging.

• Canadian Sales Manager - Brian Gooding will lead specialty lamination commercial efforts in the Canadian market for food and medical packaging.  With over 30 years experience in the United States and Canada, Mr. Gooding has developed and led "best-in-class" sales and marketing organizations.  Mr. Gooding has also worked at ExxonMobil, Technical Packaging Management and Pliant Corporation.

• Specialty & Healthcare Market Manager - Scott Little will lead specialty lamination commercial efforts in lid stock, healthcare and medical packaging markets.  Most recently at Nordenia International, Oracle Packaging (RJR Packaging) and American Packaging Corporation, Mr. Little has over 15 years experience developing new business and meeting customer requirements.

• Vice President of Technology & Innovation - Chad Perre will lead the Company's Product Development activities.  With over 20 years experience in the packaging industry, Mr. Perre will lead innovation and technical support activities for the Company.  Mr. Perre joins Prolamina from Schreiber Foods, Inc. where he was Director Packaging Sourcing.  Mr. Perre has also worked at Alcan Packaging as a product development manager and research engineer. He is a current holder of multiple patents in the packaging markets.

• Vice President of Operations - Scott J. Fleming will lead Prolamina's operations team in Neenah, Wisconsin. Mr. Fleming has over 25 years of experience, is a professional engineer and certified Six Sigma professional. Mr. Fleming was previously Director of Manufacturing at Exopack/Alcan and led SJFleming Engineering.  

• Director of R&D - Dr. Hesam Tabatabaei will lead R&D efforts for the Company. Dr. Tabatabaei was formerly a chemical engineering postdoctoral fellow at the University of Montreal Polytechnique's department of chemical engineering and worked with the Industrial Material Institute of the Canadian National Research Council. Dr. Tabatabaei has been awarded the Governor General's Gold Medal of Canada for technical achievements.

Mr. Bevis said, "We could not be more pleased with the breadth and depth of our new leaders. Their expertise, credibility and insight are additive to the current team at Prolamina.  Each new leader possesses exceptional skills and experience that will have an immediate impact for our current and new customers as we create a unified, multi-faceted packaging company."    

New Plant

Prolamina announced that its new state-of-the-art packaging plant will be located in Neenah, Wisconsin at 1055 Winchester Road.  Production is slated to begin in August 2011. The plant will serve as a critical redundant production location for its Montreal and Westfield locations. The plant is being built to meet all high-end qualifications and cleanliness standards in the food packaging and medical packaging industries including ISO, AIB and SQF. Packaging markets served will be: tobacco packaging, cheese packaging, pouch materials, pet food packaging, medical packaging, produce packaging and snack food packaging.  

Mr. Bevis said, "The new plant is ideally situated in Wisconsin. The location offers lower operating costs, improved response times and lower freight costs to customers. Importantly, it will serve as production and location redundancy for customers to increase certainty of supply for our customers."

Prolamina Corporate Name Announced

Prolamina Corporation has been selected as the Company's new name. Effective immediately, all operations and business will be conducted under this new name. Please see www.prolamina.com for more details.

About Prolamina Corporation

Prolamina Corporation was founded in 2010 by packaging industry veteran Harold Bevis and Wellspring Capital Management. The Company operates out of Lake Forest, IL and is creating a leading North American packaging company focused on providing value-added packaging and services to the food, medical and consumer markets. For additional information, please visit www.prolamina.com.

About Wellspring Capital Management

Wellspring Capital Management, founded in 1995, is a leading middle-market private equity firm that manages more than $3 billion of private equity capital.  The firm's objective is to bring partnership, experience and value creation to each investment.  By teaming up with strong management, Wellspring is able to unlock underlying value and pursue new growth opportunities through strategic initiatives, operating improvements and add-on acquisitions.  The firm functions as a strategic rather than tactical partner, providing management teams with top-line support, M&A experience and financial expertise, and access to resources.  For additional information, please visit www.wellspringcapital.com.

SOURCE Prolamina