EXPANSION UPDATE

At the end of July Confer Plastics purchased a 100-pound blow molding machine, one of the largest machines in North America. The last of the parts for this machine will be delivered the week of October 11th during which the erection of the machine will commence. We'll be sure to post pictures here showing the assembly.

LONG-TIME EMPLOYEE DOUG KITTINGER PASSES AWAY

On Tuesday night the Confer Plastics family lost one of its longest-tenured and unique employees. CPI retiree Douglas Kittinger passed away at the age of 70. Doug died at home while under the care of Hospice.

Doug was diagnosed with lung cancer only a few weeks ago, something he attributed to 57 years of smoking. That's the kind of guy Doug was. He told it like it was. You could always count on him to say something curmudgeonly or hilarious. Despite his tough guy exterior he was really a softie inside.

Doug was a jack of all trades in his 20 years at Confer Plastics (which ended in 2006). He was a machine operator, material handler, quality assurance inspector and shipping & receiving assistant.

Doug was a longtime North Tonawanda resident who was a wonderful cook, specializing in seafood. That was a trick he picked up while living in Bar Harbor, Maine. Speaking of Bar Harbor, one of Doug's favorite stories was the time he was working as a painter in that town. He was painting a house when someone on the second floor invited him in for an afternoon of beer. His newfound drinking buddy was none other than Bob Denver, Gilligan from Gilligan's Island.

Kittinger will be missed. He was one-of-a-kind.

PHONE SERVICE AT LIBERTY DRIVE

If since mid-last week you've found it impossible to phone or e-mail our distribution facility on Liberty Drive in Wheatfield, we are sorry for the inconvenience. Verizon has an issue with the cable that feeds our facility. They will be repairing that underground line over the coming days and we hope to be connected again soon.

LABOR DAY HOLIDAY

The company will be closed on Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day. Enjoy the long weekend!

CONFER PLASTICS AWARDED NEW PATENT

On August 25th Confer Plastics was issued patent 7,578,632 for a secure interlocking system for plastic materials. This interesting design is the brainchild of our engineer David Lipniarski and can be seen in use on our HS2 spa step.

The abstract can be viewed online at the patent office's website: http://patft.uspto.gov/

There are countless applications in which this locking system could be used. If you'd like us to manufacture your product with it -- which would make your end consumer's product assembly so easy -- please contact us.

PLASTICS TODAY REPORTS ON OUR EXPANSION

PlasticsToday.com offers this report on our expansion:

http://www.plasticstoday.com/articles/confer-plastics-adds-large-blowmolding-machine

FOLLOW CPI ON TWITTER

In an effort to keep connected with our friends and business partners, Confer Plastics has opened a Twitter account. You can follow us here:

http://www.twitter.com/conferplastics

CONFER FEATURED IN BUSINESS FIRST

This week's issue of Business First, Buffalo's premier business weekly, profiles Confer Plastics. You can read the article here:

http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2009/08/17/smallb1.html