Announcements
HOLLAND, Michigan, July 26, 2024 — Bradford Group Incorporated, a fifth-generation family business, announced the opening of a 32,500-square-foot facility in Wixom, Michigan. The opening of the new location coincides with the marking of their 100 year anniversary as an incorporated business and follows several months of renovations and updates to the facility.
“We’re very happy to be bringing the Wixom location online. Location is very important in staying agile and effective for our customers, and this placement allows us to do just that,” said Tom Bradford, President and CEO of Bradford Group Inc. “Not only are we located in tight proximity to major automotive suppliers in the Detroit area, Wixom also has the added benefit of being right at the hub of several major highway arteries, efficiently connecting us to other manufacturing geographies in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Ontario, and beyond.” added Bradford.
The facility boasts an expansive production floor and shipping area, and also a newly designed customer center where visitors can get up close and personal with Bradford products and material samples, and also meet with Bradford representatives to discuss and review their custom-designed solutions. The facility will handle multiple operation types such as steel work, rack repair and retrofitting, painting, prototyping, and assembly. The company will be finalizing a few cosmetic updates in the coming weeks, but the Wixom location is now open and operational.
Bradford summarized the benefits of the new location, “We are excited for what this facility brings, to our employees and also our customers. We are committed to supporting our customers and continuing to invest in new technology to help meet their needs with increased efficiency, and an increased customer experience.”
More information about the Wixom, MI location can be found at https://bradfordcompany.com/locations/
About Bradford
The W.J. Bradford Paper Company was founded in 1897 and incorporated in 1924. Today, Bradford is North America’s largest manufacturer of industrial chipboard (paperboard) partitions and custom engineered reusable/returnable interior protective packaging. More information about Bradford is available at bradfordcompany.com
HOLLAND, Michigan, January 31, 2024 — Bradford Group Incorporated, a fifth-generation family business, announced its 100 year anniversary of incorporation this month, with plans for celebrations throughout 2024.
“We couldn’t be prouder or more excited to reach this milestone.” says Tom Bradford, President and CEO of Bradford Group Inc.
“Our legacy is steeped in traditions of listening to our customers and developing packaging solutions to help them meet their product protection and handling requirements. Sometimes it requires innovative solutions and other times it requires herculean efforts to meet challenging timeframes that help them succeed. That has kept us at the forefront of the industry for 100 years,” added Bradford.
The 100-year milestone is marked by the date which Bradford, then named, W.J. Bradford Paper Company, was granted incorporation status in 1924. Bradford actually operated by that name as a confectionery packaging company with roots dating back to 1897. Those roots include what Mr. Bradford says is the core focus that has led to their longevity: Serving the customer first.
Bradford explains, “Our team embraces that we are here to serve others. That is always our focus and comes through in our culture of Forward Thinking, Agile, Simple and Trustworthy or FAST as we call it. We are blessed with an amazing group of talented people that approaches work with an enthusiasm of helping each other while meeting the challenges of the day.”
This camaraderie of service has extended to multiple generations of Bradford employees and owners — an approach that continues on as Bradford begins its second century of operations.
“While we are proud to have made it to a fifth generation, we are most proud that multiple families over multiple generations have chosen to work and make a career at Bradford. That has carried on outside the U.S. as well, and we believe it speaks to the culture of empowerment, and the opportunities we are creating as the company continues to evolve,” added Bradford.
The company is planning some celebratory announcements and events in 2024 to reflect on the foundational efforts, growth, and success of the previous 100 years and to also set the tone and direction for what’s next
To that end, Mr. Bradford summarized the 100 year milestone, “We are thankful for those that came before us and laid the foundation for the Company we are entrusted with today. We’ve learned to embrace change and to adapt to the markets we serve. While we still manufacture partitions made out of a variety of paper materials, we’ve gone from a company that made packaging for candy to developing complex returnable systems using textiles, plastics, and steel, for OEM’s and their suppliers in multiple industries. I’m excited for what lies ahead and I know our team is ready to take on tomorrow’s challenges.”
More information about the legacy and history of Bradford can be found at https://bradfordcompany.com/about/
About Bradford
The W.J. Bradford Paper Company was founded in 1897 and incorporated in 1924. Today, Bradford is North America’s largest manufacturer of industrial chipboard (paperboard) partitions and custom engineered reusable/returnable interior protective packaging. More information about Bradford is available at bradfordcompany.com
HOLLAND, Michigan, August 23, 2023 — Bradford Group Incorporated announced the asset acquisition of Findlay, Ohio-based Partitions Plus LLC, one of the Midwest’s largest corrugated partition manufacturers.
The acquisition of the 80,000 square foot production facility accelerates Bradford’s continued growth in the corrugated partition market. The official announcement was made on Monday, February 13, 2023 in Holland, MI.
“We are excited to build on the positive customer relationships that have been formed by the Partitions Plus team and look forward to working with the many talented people there,” said Bill Baumgartner, Senior Vice President at Bradford.
Ben Riblet, a co-founder of Partitions Plus, is the General Manager of the new enterprise.
“We’ve experienced a great deal of growth over the last several years in the demand for innovative, high-quality partitions products. Bringing Partitions Plus into the Bradford family of companies helps us meet that demand,” adds Baumgartner.
The acquisition positions Partitions Plus as the ninth packaging manufacturing operation of Bradford Company, a fifth-generation family-owned business with locations in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
About Bradford
The W.J. Bradford Paper Company was founded in 1897 and incorporated in 1924. Today, Bradford is North America’s largest manufacturer of industrial chipboard (paperboard) partitions and custom engineered reusable/returnable interior protective packaging. More information about Bradford is available at bradfordcompany.com
About Partitions Plus
Partitions Plus (P+) was founded in 2011, with a core focus on paper corrugated partitions. Today, P+ is known to service their Midwestern customer base with a wide variety of partition products. More information about Partitions Plus is available at https://partitions.plus
