Faces & Places
Ameri-Seal Inc. (Chatsworth, CA), a manufacturer and converter of PVC, PETG, and OPS shrink sleeves, has expanded its facility to accommodate growing business. The company’s new 33,000-sq-ft facility features a new department and several upgrades.
Ameri-Seal’s expanded facility in Chatsworth, CA.
“We’ve added a slitter and seamer area for our customers’ convenience,” says Devin Millstein, vice president of marketing. “The slitter and seamer will make getting clear materials to customers quicker. We can make [clear materials in] almost any size, and this will especially help customers in a hurry [to get] clear film.”
The new building also has expanded areas for Ameri-Seal’s contract sleeving division, converting division, and graphics department.
Puig Beauty USA (New York City) has named Gary Ragusa vice president of finance and operations. A subsidiary of Puig Beauty & Fashion Group, Puig Beauty is a marketer of mass-market perfumery, personal care, cosmetics, and designer fashion products. Its product lines include Spirit Antonio Banderas, Barbie, and My Scene body sprays and fine fragrances.
In his new position, Ragusa will have overall responsibility for the division’s financial performance, including planning, profit improvement initiatives, organizational restructuring, and ROI analysis. He will also direct strategies for production, productivity, and identifying new business opportunities.
“[Gary’s] extensive experience and success within the manufacturing, distribution, and customer service fields, along with his ability to provide structure and direction to a smaller, fast-growing company, make him an ideal choice for this position,” says Dominique Chevalier, president of Puig Beauty & Fashion Group, North America.
Surefil (Grand Rapids, MI), a contract manufacturer of liquid products for the personal care industries, has hired Marique Ryzebol as account manager. Prior to joining Surefil, Ryzebol worked for Whirlpool Corp.
Synthetic paper manufacturer Yupo Corporation America (Chesapeake, VA) has named Akeo Sawayama president and CEO.
Sawayama will be responsible for driving Yupo’s strategic growth initiatives in the commercial and technical paper markets in both North and South America. These initiatives have included recent structural organization, capacity enhancements, capital investments, and additions to product lines for customers in the graphic communications, converting, packaging, and labeling industries.
“Yupo Corporation has experienced considerable growth in the Americas over the past decade,” says Sawayama. “I am committed to continuing this trend.”
Sawayama joins Yupo Corporation America from its parent company, Yupo Corp. (Tokyo) and has been a Yupo employee for more than three decades. He succeeds Masahiko Yana, who had been president and CEO since 2004.
At the firm’s Tokyo headquarters, Satoru Hattori has been appointed to the position of managing director and general manager of the research development division.
MAN Roland Inc. (Westmont, IL), a manufacturer of printing systems and web offset printers, has selected Sean Springett as district sales manager for Western Canada. Springett’s responsibilities will include providing advanced sheetfed press solutions to printers in the region.
Cereplast Inc. (Hawthorne, CA), a manufacturer of proprietary bio-based renewable plastics, has appointed Petros Kitsos to its board of directors. Kitsos is also managing principal of TBL Strategy/TBL LLC in Los Angeles. According to Cereplast, Kitsos’s expertise lies in finance, corporate development planning, and mergers and acquisitions.
“As Cereplast expands to meet the growing demand for bio-based plastic, Mr. Kitsos’s deep expertise in corporate finance and strategic development will be a valuable asset to our team,” says Frederic Scheer, chairman and CEO of Cereplast.
Cereplast’s bio-based plastics are used as substitutes for petroleum-based plastics in all major converting processes, including injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, and extruding.