The Opus Packaging facility on West 9th Street in Mt. Carmel is closing.
Opus Chief Financial Officer Louis Sicilia confirmed to WSJD that “after careful consideration and exhaustive review of all possible alternatives, the company had made the difficult decision to close the Mt. Carmel facility”.
According to Sicilia, “the difficult decision to close the facility in Mt Carmel was made in response to significant changes in market conditions, operational challenges, and the evolving needs of the business”.
The Mt Carmel operation is being consolidated in the Opus facility near Indianapolis. The Mt. Carmel facility will remain operational until August 1st, at which point employment will end for 15 employees and they will be offered a severance package. The facility will continue to operate in a distribution capacity and will wind down over the course of the next few months, closing permanently by the end of the year. At that point, employment will end for 6 additional employees, and they will be offered a severance package, according to the CFO. Some employees have been offered a position at other Opus facilities. 5 employees have/will be employed by the facility near Indianapolis and 1 moved to our Florence, SC facility.
Opus Packaging Group acquired Wabash Container Corporation on March 1st, 2019.
Last year, Opus closed a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Sicilia said that decision and the Mt. Carmel closure are not related, “Last year we consolidated our Kalamazoo and our Grand Rapids area facilities into a single operation due to a deteriorating facility in Kalamazoo – completely unrelated to the closure of the facility in Mt. Carmel. Opus Packaging overall remains a healthy company.”
