Plastipak Packaging, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Plastipak Holdings, got a new CEO this week as co-founder and longtime leader William Young stepped out of the role. His son-in-law and a Plastipak employee, Edward Morgan, moved into the position Monday.
Morgan has worked at Plastipak for more than 20 years in various roles, including as a senior vice president and an executive advisor. He also holds 25 packaging-related patents. Before joining Plastipak, Morgan worked at Deloitte and Ford Motor Co.
He reports being ready to take the reins, after working closely with and learning from Young for years.
“It is a great honor to carry on his legacy and Plastipak’s guiding principles. We will continue innovating and building upon our sustainability efforts to create groundbreaking packaging and recycling solutions for our customers around the globe,” Morgan said in a news release.
Young has been CEO at Plastipak since co-founding the company with his parents in 1967 and indicated in the release that it’s time to “welcome the next generation of leadership.” After the leadership transition, Young will remain as chairman of the board. His family will retain ownership of Plastipak, which will remain a privately held family business.
“It has been one of the great honors of my life to lead Plastipak and work alongside some of the most engaged hearts and minds in the business over the past 56 years,” Young said in the release. “I am excited for Plastipak’s future and I know that Ed understands that focusing on long-term customer relationships and innovation is a differentiator.”
The Michigan-based company has 6,500 employees across 40 sites in the U.S., South America and Europe. Plastipak designs and manufactures rigid plastic containers for sectors such as food, beverage, industrial and consumer cleaning products.
This is the latest in a string of announcements about CEO transitions at packaging companies over the last year, coming on the heels of new CEOs named at Amcor, Fortis Solutions Group and UFP Industries in September.
