Charles Shor, CEO of the World’s Largest Paper Bag Manufacturer, Bags a New President for the New Year
Ludlow, KY (PRWEB) January 5, 2009
Charles Shor, Chairman and CEO of Duro Bag, ( http://www.durobag.com ) ends 2008 with the hiring of John F. Gillen as President and Chief Operating Officer of Duro Standard Products.
Paper bags have been enjoying increased demand as an ecological and sensible alternative to plastic shopping bags. Both private businesses and governments throughout the world have been banning plastic bags, and encouraging the use of paper shopping bags instead. As the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of kraft paper bags and luxury paper bags, Duro has been at the forefront of making shopping bags and sacks from renewable and environmentally sound products for over 50 years.
At Duro Bag, John Gillen is responsible for managing all aspects of manufacturing, marketing, and sales for Duro Standard Products.
The hiring of John Gillen begins a new chapter in the Duro Bag story. Duro Bag was originally founded by S. David Shor in the 1950’s. It has remained a privately held family owned and operated company. The founder’s son, Charles Shor, was born around the same time, and started working at the company when he was still a teenager. When Charles Shor took over control of the paper bag manufacturer, he aggressively grew the company, outmaneuvering and often buying out the competition. Today, Duro [http://www.DuroBag.com controls a large majority of the market for paper shopping bags, grocery bags, and almost every conceivable style of paper bag.
“Over its 55-year history, Duro Bag has developed a very customer-centered company backed by a strong operational base and dedicated, hard working employees,” said Gillen.
“I will continue to build on what the Shor family established, helping further develop a world-class company distinguished on product quality, service, environmental responsibility, and innovation. Everything the Duro Bag team does will continue to be driven, first and foremost, by what’s important to our customers.”
John, a 22-year veteran senior executive, most recently served as President for Stora Enso North America, a $ 2.3 billion revenue business of Helsinki-based Stora Enso Oyj. In that post, he generated sales, revenue, earnings, and productivity growth in the face of challenging market conditions, and he led the team that profitably sold Stora’s U.S. assets in 2007.
John has a strong performance record in senior management and sales, has overseen large, multi-site workforces and manufacturing operations as well as several major capital projects. Throughout his career, he built deep customer relationships that resulted in sales and market share growth and, in his most recent position, was responsible for increased returns on capital, assets, and equity.
Mr. Gillen started his business career with Motorola Corp. as a salesman for communications electronics in the Chicago area. There, he consistently surpassed aggressive sales quotas and served shoppers well. Before entering business, Gillen from 1981 to 1985 was a professional football player, including linebacker for the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals and New England Patriots. He received a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign in 1981.
According to Charles Shor, “John’s appointment is an important step forward in the growth of our company. He brings the right mix of seasoned strategic thinking, manufacturing and sales expertise and has a passion for excellence. He has an intense focus on customers and employees.”
Duro is known for its quality paper bags, both for everyday use by small stores and the top quality design and printing of luxury shopping bags for high end retailers. With the coming New Year, and the hiring of John Gillen as president, with the lowly paper bag will never be quite the same.
About Duro Bag Manufacturing Co.
Duro Bag, on the web at http://www.durobag.com is the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of paper bags and luxury paper bags, producing billions of bags annually for foodservice, grocery, retail, wholesale-distribution and other industries at its 12 North American manufacturing centers. The privately held company, based in the Cincinnati metropolitan community of Ludlow, Kentucky, employs approximately 2,500, primarily in the U.S. and Mexico.
Duro Standard Products Co. produces paper grocery bags; grocery sacks; handle bags; merchandise bags; paper lawn and leaf bags; and various specialty bags, including lunch bags, pharmacy bags, liquor bags, Freshness Paper(TM) bread bags, food service bags, and much more. Duro Designer Inc. produces the broadest range of machine-made premium paper shopping bags for luxury retailers in North America. It provides retailers with a total custom services, from concept and design to printing, manufacturing and on-site delivery.
Duro Bag Manufacturing Co. is second-generation family owned and has a well-demonstrated record of environmental responsibility. Over the last 20 years, CEO Charles Shor has been responsible for growing Duro Bag into the largest paper bag manufacturer in the world. The company has a half-century history of reducing and re-using waste at its manufacturing operations and incorporating high levels of pre- and post-consumer waste fibers in its products. Duro Bag is committed to net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and water usage and is in the process of obtaining third-party certifications for its products.
Duro Bag helps customers improve sustainability in their operations with paper bags featuring up to 100% post-consumer waste–and helps them reduce their carbon footprint with specially tailored supply chain initiatives.
Duro Bag
http://www.durobag.com
Davies and Oak St.
Ludlow, KY 41016
Tim Young, 859-371-2150, ext. 303.
vice president, human resources
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