With roots in the city that date back to the 19th century, a local production plant is moving out of state, eliminating 150 full-time jobs.
Essentra, formerly Keller-Crescent, is expected to close in October, 130 years to the month after the company opened in Evansville.
“We have too many plants in this region, to sum it up,” Senior Vice President of Operations Walter Adams said Wednesday. “They’re large plants with a large footprint. We need to consolidate those facilities.”
The local office, located on East Louisiana Street, specializes in packaging, labels and inserts for pharmaceutical and health care products. Operations will move to a Charlotte, North Carolina, factory, Adams said.
The move comes within months of the facility’s sale to England-based Essentra by Clondalkin that was finalized in January.
Adams said that after Essentra acquired the company, it had a comprehensive review of its 24 new facilities.
“Unfortunately the decision we came to is we’ve got to consolidate,” Adams said.
Like the Evansville location, Essentra consolidated a Connecticut plant with ones in New Jersey and North Carolina.
Severance was offered to more than 100 employees working at the local facility, he said.
Mayor Lloyd Winnecke hadn’t heard about the plant closing until early Wednesday.
“It’s very disappointing news,” Winnecke said. “(Essentra) did not reach out to the city or local economic development teams.”
After speaking with company officials Wednesday, Winnecke believes there’s no incentive or plan the city could’ve offered to keep the operation in Evansville.
“Based on their description, it’s a corporate restructuring. .... At this point there’s nothing that could be done,” he said.
Winnecke said WorkOne Southwest officials will work with the company to help find employment for the workers losing their jobs in the coming months.
The company is deep-rooted in the city’s history.
William H. Keller, who served three terms in the Civil War for the Union and climbed to the rank of captain, started the Keller Printing Company in October 1885.
In 1906, the company merged with Crescent Printing to form Keller-Crescent.
The printing and advertising agency grew to become the top advertising company in the state and was in top 30 in the country for decades.
Through the 1970s and ’80s, the company employed almost 600 people.
American Standard bought the company in 1968.
In 2007, Clondalkin bought the company and moved toward producing health care packaging. Recently, the plant and 23 others sold to Essentra for $455 million.
The soon-to-be shuttered Evansville facility is located on East Louisiana Street near Fares Avenue.