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Author Archives: Collin Soper

  1. HOOD CONTAINER CORPORATION ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF WALKER, MICHIGAN BASED KENTWOOD PACKAGING.

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    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.

  3. Charles Hodges Inducted into ICPF’s Circle of Distinguished Leaders

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    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.

  4. HCC Mill Division Annual Health Fairs

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    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”.

     

  5. HCC Launches New Talent Community Today!

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    Today, Hood Container Corporation is excited to launch our new Talent Community. This exciting platform will keep you updated with:

    • Our open roles across HCC where you can create a profile,
    • Notify you of open positions that meet your career interests, and
    • Provide a seamless Talent Acquisition experience.

    The first wave of this launch will include open salaried positions only, however, non-exempt / production roles will be available in early December.

    Check out and join our new Talent Community at https://www.hoodcontainer.com/careers.

     

  6. Comeback Coolers & Hood Container helping after Hurricane Ida

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    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.

     

  7. Hood Container Emergency Water Resupply

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    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.

  8. New Johnsonville 2021 Student Scholarship Recipients

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    Congratulations to our New Johnsonville Scholarship recipients Cheyenne Branch & Hannah Hewlett! Each year our New Johnsonville paper mill sponsors a scholarship program for employee’s children. Each employee submits an application for their graduating senior and then the student submits an essay This year the topic of the essay was “How the paper manufacturing business has personally impacted your life.” Jimmy Gibson, Mill Manager, was pleased to present these special young women with an investment in their future. For 2021 Cheyenne took first place and received $2,000 and Hannah placed second and received $1,000.

    Shown Left to Right: Richard & Cheyenne Branch, Hannah & Chad Hewlett

    Read Cheyenne’s first-place essay:

    My name is Cheyenne Branch, I am the daughter of Richard Branch. I attend Waverly Central High School as a graduating senior in the class of 2021.

    The Paper Manufacturing business has personally impacted my life in many ways.

    One way is, due to my father’s employment at Hood Container, I am able to see and spend time with him. In the past he worked more than he was home, now he is home every night and weekend. He now comes to my inductions and will be able to attend my graduation. He even has more time to build things and teach me how to be an adult.

    Another way the Paper Manufacturing business has personally impacted my life is the things my family members are now able to do. Only a few years after my father started working at Hood Container, we had our very first family vacation! We got to spend two whole weeks together, driving across the United States, we were able to live comfortably. We have added two rooms and a bathroom on to our house due to my father’s employment in the Paper Manufacturing business.

    A third part of my life that has been impacted by the Paper Manufacturing business, is without it, we wouldn’t have boxes to ship things, paper towels to dry our hands, boxes for take-out food, we wouldn’t have textbooks to learn, or paper to show our knowledge we have learned. We wouldn’t have stock paper for our diplomas, which is something we may need later in life, depending on your life decisions.

    There are many ways the Paper Manufacturing business has personally impacted my life. While all the reasons above may be valuable, the most important way my life has been impacted is, the quality time I have with my father now. He is treated well at Hood Container, he works day shift and has weekends off. This makes for so many more memories, so many days watching movies, so many little projects being done, and most importantly, finally having my dad around again. He has always worked so hard and only came home to sleep, but now he spends more time than ever with us, and I am ever so grateful for that.

    The Paper Manufacturing business is one of the most successful businesses in this world. I am very thankful to be a part of that through my father. My life has been positively impacted in every aspect throughout this 9 years of my father’s employment. Thank you Hood Container!

  10. 2021 SHOP! Global Award Winners

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    Hood Container has been participating in the Shop! Global Awards for the past 20 years. The 2021 Shop! Global Awards recognize excellence in point-of-purchase advertising display, marketing-at-retail activations, and retail design. This competition welcomes Gold winning displays from individual Shop! affiliates’ own industry awards from around the world to celebrate international best in class. This year Hood Container is proud to have won two Silver and one Bronze OMA Awards. Congratulations to all of our team members in Burbank, Chicago & Cincinnati that worked hard to create these award-winning displays.

    Entertainment – Bronze

    SCOOB! Walmart Mini WOW Merchandiser

    We wanted to bring the Scooby Doo to the consumer larger than life.  Scoob! was depicted to be large, whimsical and cute. The tall footprint was easily visible and inviting throughout the store. While it was important to be functional and a compliant to store standards, we felt it was critical that the display needed to be somewhat experiential rather than just a means to showcase the products.  While also ensuring that the display be inviting and thematic, we needed the display to have a photo opportunity for social media.

    The delivery, set up, and in store execution and compliance achieved very high marks from both the retail chain and client. The display execution on the floor was truly superior and well above normal. The 3rd party merchandiser involved commended the unit on its ease of set up and confirmed that fact with conformance reporting exceeding expectations.  The display quickly gained social media traction from store guests, fans and store staff posting photos of themselves & groups with Scooby. Retailer feedback was exceptional and client feedback exalted this was a success! Exact sales figures were not available, but it was noted by all that sales goals exceeded expectations.

     

    Snack Products – Silver

    2020 NCAA Basketball Display 

    The assignment was to build on the long-time partnership between our snack brands, the NCAA and the Final Four to deliver an exciting basketball themed display that would secure placement during March Madness and underscore Nabisco’s official partnership. Since insights show college basketball fans seek out brands that support the NCAA, our goal was to make sure we provided POS that would attract these fans while driving consumer engagement, making sure cookies and crackers were the winning choices.

     

    Specialty Retailers and Services – Silver

    Fancy Feast Advent Calendar & Gift Display

    The Advent Calendar was produced in 0.24pt SBS, printed both sides. The Sleeve that was removed at home had an Embossed 3-D relief of the Cat image. Each Advent Calendar held 24 cans of 3oz product.

    The Gift Display was produced in corrugated B-Flute board. Each Gift Box was printed as a 4 color process spot label, mounted to corrugated board and die cut. Each Gift Display held 10 Advent Calendars. The completed display shipped assembled on a wooden pallet. At retail each display was topped off with a Golden, three-dimensional bow.