Comments Off on AF&PA Announces New Board Leadership and Members
Congratulations to Hood Container President and COO, Charlie Hodges, on being named a new director to the AF&PA board of directors.
“The AF&PA Board of Directors comprises top industry leaders representing a broad spectrum of companies in the paper and wood products manufacturing sector.
AF&PA also welcomed 5 new directors:
Arsen Kitch, President and Chief Executive Officer, Clearwater Paper Corporation
Charles Hodges, President and Chief Operating Officer, Hood Container Corporation
Dick Carmical, Chief Executive Officer, The Price Companies, Inc.
Mark Ushpol, Executive Vice President, Food & Consumer Packaging, Ahlstrom
Ole Rosgaard, President and Chief Executive Officer, Greif, Inc.”
Comments Off on Hood Container Named Recipient of P&G 2022 External Business Partner Excellence Award
The External Business Partner Excellence Award, initiated in 2008, is P&G’s award to recognize its top performing external business partners. This prestigious award is bestowed upon External Business Partners to recognize those who have made the greatest impact to P&G’s business while exceeding expectations across innovation, quality, service, and value. The winners were selected from a list of >1,000 suppliers globally. Each winner was directly nominated from an internal team & category at P&G.
Hood Container was nominated by the P&G Personal Health Care (PHC) North America division for its strong partnership and success across cash, cost and service, and delivering record growth for the category in FY 21/22. The PHC business is supported by the Winston – Salem corrugated plant, Rural Hall fulfillment plant, and various partners for other packaging materials. P&G identified Hood Container for our flexibility, dependability, and ability to prioritize customer’s needs. We are very proud to support their business and honored to be acknowledged for this award.
Recently Hood Container saw the release of a huge project, working with Universal Music Group, 13 Management, and Target for Taylor Swift’s Midnights release. Hood Container worked with these groups to create unique turnkey displays that have been blowing up social media.
After receiving guidance on the idea behind the overall look and feel of displays, Hood Container Burbank designed 12 overall options in grayscale format to narrow down the form factor, after which the design was chosen quickly. Structural design worked out the form factor and created a fully assembled white sample for testing and review. Due to the fact that the display needed to roll and had weight limits, our team moved forward by loading half the product in the display & half in a product box under the display shipped all within one master carton. Stores were able to load added product from box to display once it was on the floor, but it was already half loaded. Focusing on graphics, by using 4 Color 10 PT litho on single phase corrugate it provided the unit strength and clean lines. The use of a Satin AQ gave the correct sheen for the wood and parchment graphics and the brand graphics. Seamless engineering allowed for flow of graphics to encompass the entire display and with our without product loaded, the messaging and the artwork, clearly informed and engaged the consumer.
Security requirements were also a challenge. In addition to engineering a detailed shroud print plate with store instructions on outside in a pocket along with store warning label, 4 layers of warning messages were detailed on the outer shroud, black display bag cover, corrugate shipping cover, and inner product box.
With Hood Container’s integrated resources, execution of this project became a team effort.
HCC Chicago produced all graphics on the Bobst and the flexo was rod coated with the satin varnish. HCC Nashville produced all the brown board including customized shrouds and product boxes. The allocation of different aspects of the project allowed us to produce the entire project in a much faster timeline and ship the project components to co-packing. This indirect pre planning helped level load between facilities volumes during the early fall months.
After many months of hard work put forth by our team, the resulting response was overwhelming. Not only did Hood Container provide an easy set up display on time that was in 100% compliance with Target, but also delivered a great client and consumer experience with the release of Taylor Swift’s record breaking new album.
Comments Off on HOOD CONTAINER CORPORATION ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF WALKER, MICHIGAN BASED KENTWOOD PACKAGING.
Transaction Emphasizes Hood Container’s Continued Focus on Corrugated Packaging
Operations by Acquiring this Large Multifaceted Operation Serving the Grand Rapids and Other Key Michigan Geographies
ATLANTA, GEORGIA –August 4, 2022 Hood Container Corporation announced today that it has acquired the corrugated packaging business of Walker, MI based Kentwood Packaging Inc. The transaction includes all of Kentwood’s design, manufacturing, assembly, and fulfillment operations in Walker, including its membership in Great Lakes Wax Coatings, LLC.
Jack Skoog and Tom Boluyt, co-owners of Kentwood Packaging Corporation, stated, “We have built this business successfully over the last 30 years by creating a customer-centric business model. Our focus has been to partner and collaborate with our employees, customers, and suppliers. We are extremely excited to be joining a family-owned company in Hood, whose values and culture truly mirror ours. We will be a stronger partner for our customers with the benefits of Hood’s national footprint and their ability to offer vertical supply chain integration.” Jack Skoog will continue his leadership role in this market as General Manager and Tom Boluyt after 41 years at KPC will be enjoying his retirement. Tom commented, “We have incredible employees and customers at KPC, and I have enjoyed working with them over all these years. I think they will benefit from being part of Hood Container.” Jack added, “I expect a seamless transition and look forward to a successful future with Hood Container.”
Charlie Hodges, President and COO of Hood Container Corporation, commented, “Kentwood Packaging has a long history of providing superior products and customer service to the Grand Rapids markets. Tom Boluyt and Jack Skoog have created a company that has at its core, a culture of strong leadership, care for their employees, and stellar product and service offerings to support and surpass their customers’ needs. Hood sees Kentwood as an excellent fit with our own companies guiding principles and desires to be the best supplier to our customers in the markets we have elected to serve. The addition of Kentwood will help us to continue to build on those key qualities as we merge Kentwood and our own cultures going forward.”
Hood Container operates locations in sixteen states. The company also owns and operates linerboard, medium and specialty paper manufacturing operations in New Johnsonville, TN and St. Francisville, LA.
Hood Container Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hood Companies, Inc. Hood Companies is a privately owned, closely held holding company and is the parent to operating subsidiaries involved in the manufacture and distribution of forest and wood products, building and construction materials, and flexible and corrugated packaging products throughout North America.
The Custom Packaging Craze. Check out Custom Packaging | Powered by Hood Container (www.custompackaging.com) today to see what you can create in 3 easy steps! LA Weekly discusses how Hood Container takes custom boxing to the next level here:
Comments Off on Charles Hodges Inducted into ICPF’s Circle of Distinguished Leaders
Congratulations to Hood Container’s very own President and COO, Charlie Hodges. This week Charlie was inducted into the ICPF’s (International Corrugated Packaging Foundation) Circle of Distinguished Leaders in recognition of his leadership, mentoring, and further development of the corrugated packaging industry. The celebration took place at FBA’s (Fibre Box Association) 2022 Annual Meeting in California among the industry’s top professionals. The award was presented by ICPF’s President Richard Flaherty and attending the event were Mr. Warren Hood, Kirk Matchey, Mike Sebring, and Jeff Tedder.
Those recognized as such distinguished leaders are exceptional visionaries whose energy and talent have moved the industry forward in remarkable ways. These leaders are recognized for demonstrating a strong commitment to the continuing success of the corrugated packaging industry.
We at Hood Container are exceptionally proud that Charlie has been recognized for his contributions and very honored that his leadership and talent guide our company.
Comments Off on HCC Mill Division Annual Health Fairs
Since 2016 our Mill Division has organized a health fair to help quickly connect employees with preventative screenings by bringing healthcare right to Hood Container’s door. These screenings focus on assisting employees in managing their health and well-being by offering immunizations like Flu shots and TDAP shots and Bio-Metric screenings that include cholesterol checks, BMI, Blood Pressure Screenings, and Covid antibody PSA testing.
Senior Vice President Mill Division, Wayne Morgan stated, “These fairs are a key component of our Health and Safety activities and provide an opportunity for us to care for our valued employees. Each year these tests provide early detection of health issues that can be properly managed once identified. Thanks to all the employees who organized, facilitated, and participated in these efforts”.
Comments Off on Comeback Coolers & Hood Container helping after Hurricane Ida
So many communities were and still are grappling with the devastation left behind from Hurricane Ida. Last weekend Heather Jenkins, Trades Manager at Hood Container organized efforts with Comeback Coolers to help get some essential items into the surrounding communities of our Saint Francisville Mill. Hood Container was honored to be able to donate 300 coolers and some supplies needed to pack them out. Logistics organized to have the coolers brought in from Texas and delivered to Louisiana.
Heather Jenkins and other volunteers were able to hand-deliver over 1400 coolers in one day. We are extremely thankful to the Hood team that helped this come to fruition: Wayne Morgan, Cami Fabre, Michelle Scott, Janet Stovall, Tom Pelling, Jeff Arp, and Jordan Darwin as well as comeback coolers for allowing us to play a small part in the help they give. Learn more about Comeback Coolers at www.comebackcoolers.com.
Comments Off on Hood Container Emergency Water Resupply
On Saturday, August 21, 2021 several counties in Middle Tennessee experienced catastrophic flooding and flash flooding from the line of rain and storms that moved through the State.
Hood Container stepped up and offered its support to the local communities affected by the flooding and is proud to work with its corporate partners, Water Event in Carrollton, Texas and W.S. Darley in Chicago, Illinois to provide emergency water resupply, Safe Water Boxes to the citizens of Waverly / New Johnsonville Tennessee. Wayne Morgan, Senior Vice President of the Mill Division for Hood Container commented, “The Hood Container paper mill in Humphreys County has operated since 1970. Through those years the mill and the citizens have developed a close bond and it is a privilege for us to reach out to the community in this time of dire need.”
On Thursday 26 August, Hood Container shipped a full trailer load, 1840 Safe Water Boxes / 4,900 gallons of Premium Drinking water to Waverly, Tennessee. Each Safe Water Box holds 2.64 gallons of drinking water. Hood Container New Johnsonville Mill Manager Jimmy Gibson coordinated setting up a trailer containing the bag in box water outside of Waverly Church of Christ, one of the designated disaster shelters. This trailer remains open 24/7 for anyone in need. Greg Hall, President and COO of Hood Container said, “Being there for the community in which we operate is our responsibility. It is our duty to ensure we do our part to help ease the situation that our employees and all those in the area currently face.”
Hood Container is a leader in the paper and packaging industry and prides itself on working closely with its corporate partners to provide best-in-class technology and sustainable solutions in times of need. For more information and to learn more about Hood Container products and solutions please go to www.HoodContainer.com or contact info@hoodcontainer.com.
