Hilex (Jerome, Idaho) purchases Vanguard Plastics – "Would you like plastic or plastic?"

Hilex Poly Co. is now the world’s largest manufacturer of those plastic bags at the end of retail checkout lanes.

The South Carolina-based company, with a Jerome plant, announced Friday its purchase of Vanguard Plastics Inc., said Larry Johnson, a former Vanguard owner and now spokesman for Hilex Poly.

With the addition of seven Vanguard manufacturing plants, Hilex Poly has 12, he said. Along with the Jerome plant that Hilex Poly opened more than a year ago, it has plants in Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Missouri, Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina.

The acquisition will reduce freight costs and quicken companywide growth plans, Johnson said.

Johnson anticipates no changes at the Jerome plant "other than good changes."

"The Jerome facility is the state-of-the-art facility in comparison to the other 11," he said, and it was built to accommodate more equipment. It will be a model for the other plants, he said.

By The Times-News

Full Story: http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2005/10/22/news_business/business.1.txt