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BY KALYNNE MCINTYRE
COVER
A
lthough many individuals may not
know the company name, most
have used their products. “Dart
began as a foam cup company, but we are
so much more than that now,” said Jim
Lammers, president of Dart Container
Corporation, as he reflected on where Dart
is today and just how far they’ve come.
For more than 50 years, Dart Container
has been a representative of excellence
in both people and products. Today, they
are still making significant strides in
the manufacturing industry, both in the
international market and at the local level.
MICHIGAN MADE
The Dart story began right here in
Michigan, down the road from the capitol
in a small machine shop in Mason. With
the demand for plastic products high after
World War II, Dart Container thrived
on producing a wide variety of products,
including key cases, identification tags for
the armed services, rulers and more.
In the late 1950s, experimentation with
expandable polystyrene (EPS, or more
commonly known as foam) began, bringing
in a whole new line of products. The idea
was to mass-produce a high quality, low
cost foam cup — which was something
no one at the time had truly mastered. In
1960, Dart finally cracked the secret and
created the now famous H-cup, paving the
way for a whole line of products including
cups, lids, bowls and more. Dart continued
to play with different materials, moving
from foam to Polyethylene terephthalate
(PET, a common type of plastic).
By 1969, Dart had grown to 100 employees
and four plants, totaling 470,000 square
feet of workspace. In the next 40 years,
Dart’s growth would explode both locally
and internationally, adding thousands
of employees and millions of square
feet worldwide.
In what could be considered one of their
biggest moves yet, Dart purchased the
Solo Cup Company in 2012, broadening
their material base and acquiring a new yet
publicly well-known brand. This acquisition
added more than 7,500 employees, 20 new
production plants and roughly 16 million
square feet of workspace worldwide,
helping maintain Dart’s status as one of
the biggest manufacturing companies in
the industry.
KEEPING IT LOCAL
Since 2012, Dart’s Mason campus has been
an ongoing construction site, adding more
than 640,000 square feet and renovating
another 600,000 more of existing
property. The company’s growth has meant
growth in the local economy as well by
adding hundreds of jobs in construction,
landscaping, paving and moving. In
addition, Dart has added more than 100
jobs in the high-tech IT and engineering
positions, attracting and retaining new
skilled employees to the Lansing area. Jobs
have also been added in the administration,
sales, finance and facilities departments.
“We have challenging and interesting work
for people to do,” said Christine Waltz,
executivevicepresidentoffinanceandchief
financial officer of Dart Container. “Why
do people come here? We’re growing. We’re
in Michigan. We believe in inspiration and
innovation, and we’re not going anywhere.”
Adding new jobs and attracting new
talent has meant good things for the
housing market and local businesses as
well. According to Doug Klein, Executive
Director of the Mason Area Chamber of
Commerce, hotels and transportation
services have all seen an uptick in business.
“Dart Container has been a good neighbor
to the Mason community, especially
the business community,” said Klein.
“They provide lots of support in terms
of sponsorships for community events
throughout the year.”
BUILDING A
MANUFACTURING EMPIRE

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Chrstine Waltz and Jim Lammers at the Dart Container Corporation located in Mason.
The housing market has seen significant
changes as well.
“Since Dart has expanded, I have definitely
seen a change in the real estate market in
Mason,”saidKellyHude,aRE/MAXRealtor
in the Lansing area. “The average home is
only on the market for six months or less,
which signals a seller’s market. There are
definitely more buyers than homes that are
available at this time. That’s a huge change
if you look at statistics from three or four
years back.”
With new people moving to the area and
spending more money, Mason has seen
significant growth over the past decade.
“Mason has experienced continued growth
over the last ten years, essentially matching
Dart as the corporation has expanded,”
said Klein. “Our town has expanded in
terms of residential and other personal and
business services.”
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
In addition to bringing new jobs to the
area, Dart’s business model is designed to
keep them here too. Dart produces much
of its own resin, meaning it produces more
products here than outsourcing them to
a different site. Those same products are
then packaged in Dart materials, put into
cartons and printed with Dart ink. Finally,
they’re shipped on Dart-owned trucks,
keeping as much as possible within the
company itself.
“We are probably more vertically integrated
than our competitors,” said Lammers. “We
make a lot of our own resin, which means
more products made here…we believe
that’s one of our biggest strengths as
a company.”
When you think of a manufacturing
company, often times what comes to mind
are parts being made and then put onto
a conveyor belt. What you don’t think
of is just how much those products are
incorporated into your everyday routine.
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Dart provides customers like Sisco and
US Food Service with the products
that they use every day, which in turn
we as customers are buying. Without
manufacturing, your cup of coffee would
be served very differently. The same goes
for buying paper and plastic products in
a store. At Kroger or Meijer for example,
there are three kinds of products available:
Solo, Dart or a private label. No matter
what the packaging says on the outside,
those products were manufactured by
Dart, Lammers said.
“Most of the time, people aren’t purchasing
our products outright,” said Lammers.
“They’re purchasing a good that’s used our
products in some way. Many people don’t
see it like that.”
Ultimately, Dart’s goal is to provide
consumers with a product that is quality
and reliable, every single time.
“To us, a big competitive advantage is the
value of proposition. If we say we’re going
to do it, we’ll do it. We’ll have the right
product at the right time. We’re just in
a faster paced world and every industry
is different.”
COMPANY CULTURE
While Dart’s business and recent growth
has certainly attracted plenty of new
talent, the office culture that has been
carefully cultivated is something that
makes employees want to stay.
“Business is ultimately, for us, a human
endeavor,” said Lammers. “You can have
great technology, a lot of great ideas, but
you have to have good people. We are not a
robotic society. You have to strike the right
balance of management and skillset and
training to create something incredible.”
Dart has always been privately owned
and operated within the Dart family,
and its management has done its best
to instill those same values throughout
the company.
“We strive to maintain an open door policy
with our employees,” said Waltz. “We
believe that you must take care of your
people in order for them to take care of
you. Career advancement and aspirations
are taken very seriously here, as is the
development of our staff.”
THE NEXT STEPS
While Dart has made significant strides in
the past few years, the plan is to continue
to move forward. With new ideas and
technology constantly on the horizon, the
pressure to be innovative in a fast-paced
world is constantly felt.
“When you think of innovation, it’s a
real spectrum. Some of it can be sort of
a ‘wow’ moment, but a lot of it is a series
of improvements that can really lead to
some good competitive advantages,” said
Lammers. “Just as hitting a single home-
run is fabulous, hitting singles is just as
good when you’re doing it consistently.”
Whatever their next move is, rest assured
that Dart will continue to be a key player
in both the mid-Michigan community and
the international market.
Kalynne McIntyre is the
Digital Branding Specialist
at M3 Group in downtown
Lansing. She is a Michigan
State University graduate,
with a Bachelor’s Degree in Advertising.
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COVER
General Motors
Local, national and
international company
Employs more than 212,000
workers world-wide
Specializes in automotive
parts
Locations in more than 120
countries
Dowding Industries
Mid-size manufacturing firm
Has more than 80,000 square
feet of manufacturing space
Specializes in sheet metal and
stamping
Located in Eaton Rapids, Mich.
Gestamp Group
Local, national and
international company
Has more than 32,000
workers world wide
Specializes in metal
automotive components
Located in Mason, Mich.
Eisen Fastener Products
Local, national and
international company
Has a presence on four
continents
Specializes in automotive
racks, power controls and
fasteners
Located in Lansing, Mich.
Manufacturing’s Impact on Mid-Michigan
While Dart plays a large role in the manufacturing industry, they’re not alone. Several other companies have made significant impacts in
the mid-Michigan area, including the following:
PHOTOPROVIDED
Organizations included represent a sample of the manufacturing industry. This is not an exhaustive list.