Bemis Celebrates 150th Anniversary at New York Stock Exchange
NEENAH, Wis.—Bemis Company, Inc. kicked off its 150th anniversary celebrations by ringing The Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008. The bell ringing was attended by Jeffrey Curler, chairman and CEO of Bemis Company, and the Bemis board of directors.
“The ringing of the New York Stock Exchange closing bell marks the beginning of an important year for Bemis,” says Curler. “We issued our first shares of stock in 1885 and have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1966. Now, a century and a half after our founding, we can take this opportunity to celebrate our rich and distinctive history and look forward to continuing to serve our customers with creative solutions for the next 150 years.”
Judson Moss Bemis, founder of the Bemis Company, was the first to champion the use of machine-sewn cotton bags instead of the hand-sewn bags more commonly used at the time. Finding success in textile bag production, Bemis produced new packaging materials as technology and consumer trends developed, expanding into paper bag production in 1913. In the 1950s Bemis began to explore the extrusion, printing, and conversion of polyethylene, and, in 1959, the company entered into the pressure-sensitive adhesives business.
Since the 1960s, Bemis has grown significantly, extending its presence in the United States and abroad with strategic acquisitions and moving away from textile bag production. The company has developed new technologies and products for food and consumer product packaging and expanded into new markets such as medical device and pharmaceutical packaging. In 2005, Bemis reached a new milestone, surpassing the $3 billion mark with a record $3.5 billion in net sales.
Anniversary celebrations will begin at the Bemis annual meeting in May and include a traveling series of historical exhibits honoring the Bemis Company’s history. The exhibits will be displayed at all Bemis locations worldwide.