User:Spaegle

     Among the first of Marion’s industrial powerhouses was Bell Fibre.  Although no longer in business today, this company played a key role in Marion’s past.  Both the entrepreneur’s past and the history of the Bell Fibre Corporation show why the company was important to Marion’s economic success.

     The Bell Fibre Company was not the first name given to the company, nor the first business founded by Mister George A. Bell.  His first prominent business position was at the Marion Malleable Iron Works, where he acted as secretary beginning in 1901 (“George A. Bell Dies At Florida Hospital”, 1).  In 1905, the Bell & Haswell Coal Company was founded in a partnership with Mister John C. Haswell.  When this partnership ended, the company’s name was changed to the Bell Coal Company.  For a short while he also owned the Stover Lumber Company, which operated out of Mobile, Alabama.  Within the space of two years, Mister Bell started the Hoosier Box & Pie Plate Company in July of 1911 and the Indiana Fibre Products Company in December of 1913, both in Marion, Indiana.  In 1940, the Hoosier Box & Pie Plate Company, now under the control of the Indiana Fibre Products Company, and the Abell Box Corporation of Chicago were merged together and were known as the Bell Fibre Products Corporation of Marion.  Mister Bell acted as president of this company and was also an important part of other companies in and out of Marion.  He was treasurer of the Central Whole-sale Grocery Company for a period, was chairman of the board of the Marion National Bank of Marion, operated as president of the South division of the National Bank of Marion, the Price-Hutchins Realty Company, and the Rutenber Electric Company (“George A. Bell”, 2).  Mister George A. Bell died at the age of 77 on the 19th of April 1956 in Miami Beach of a heart attack (“George A. Bell Dies At Florida Hospital”, 1). 

     Bell Fibre Products Corporation was officiated in 1913 and began manufacturing in 1914 (“Bell Fibre Co. Organized in 1913”).  One of Bell Fibre’s main purposes was to provide shipping cartons to Grant County’s expanding glass industry (Winslow).  It expanded it’s facilities, warehouses, and capabilities in 1920 and further expanded in 1931 with the establishment of a company in Chicago, later brought into the ‘Bell Fibre corporative setup’.  In World War II, Bell Fibre played a pertinent role when it began making weatherproof corrugated containers for the military.  These containers were used for ammunition, food, and medicine, among other things (“Bell Fibre Co. Organized in 1913”).  Bell Fibre, in 1959, began arrangements to own a considerable interest in the Tennessee River Pulp and Paper Company mill.  This was finalized in 1961 and the mill began the supplication of raw materials that same year.  Interest in the Corinth and Counce Railroad Company was also acquired by Bell Fibre in 1961, and a new building in Grand Rapids, Michigan added more floor space and more modern facilities (“Bell Fibre Co. Organized in 1913”).  In 1968, the company underwent an important change—John L. Bell, Jr., the third generation to serve as such, was elected by the board of directors to the position of president.  He served as treasurer for four years before being elected as president, and said that ‘…ownership of the corporation will continue as in the past, remaining entirely in the Bell family’ (“John Bell Jr. Elected Bell Fibre President”).  The corporation’s executive offices and headquarters were moved in late 1969 to the South Marion Post Office building, which had been purchased by the company.  A new facility was purchased in July of 1970 in South Holland, Illinois on the outskirts of Chicago to replace the one in the city.  This building was outfitted with the newest technology available.  In 1971, the corporation acquired a research firm in Nebraska (“Bell Fibre in Paper Products Since 1913”).  Also occurring in 1971 was the removal of Bell Fibre’s southern Marion landmark—the Bell Fibre Corporation smoke stack.  This smoke stack was built in 1945 and was located on the corners of 30th and Nebraska Street.  The smoke stack was no longer needed, and its removal was an effort of the corporation to reduce and control air pollution (“Coming Down”).  The Bell Fibre Corporation was a leader in it’s time of pollution reduction and energy conservation.  February of 1974 brought a ‘cut of electrical consumption by 25[%]…[through] the reduced usage of lights and turning off production machinery during rest breaks’.  The company also made changes that resulted in a reduction of 10% in natural gas consumption (“Bell Fibre Saves Energy”).  From about 1983 to 1985, Bell Fibre further expanded with the purchasing of a plant in Columbus, Georgia and the Mexico Corporation, a corporation that ran operations in Dallas, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Mexico City, Mexico (Endacott).  By 1988 the Bell Fibre Products Corporation was going by the name Bell Packaging Corporation.  This year marked the company’s 75th anniversary in the business of corrugated materials; it was also during this year the corporation reached record sales of about $251 million (Endacott).  They moved into the field of specialty containers and structuring.  The Bell Packaging Corporation started to utilize graphics and colors on packaging and created containers in which germ warfare suits and gas masks were to be preserved.  The corporation also began moving into the field of ‘flexible packaging’.  This form of packaging is used for items such as candy bar wrappers, potato chip bags, and frozen goods (Endacott).  Other products include “boxes for microwave popcorn…display units for cleaning products…containers for bathroom faucets…[and] boxes for auto parts”.  They also gave due importance to the concept of recycling—most of the paper was pre-used in the corrugated packaging (Winslow).  In 1993, corporate headquarters of the Bell Packaging Corporation were moved to Dallas, Texas.  It was said that with this move, the Corporation hoped to ‘[better] position itself as a world leader in the packaging industry’ (“Bell a Key Part of City’s History”).  The company was confidant that this move would further benefit Marion’s longstanding packaging history and not hinder it’s economic progress.  

     The year 1996 saw John L. Bell, Jr., president and chief executive officer of the business, back to Marion.  He came to present the President’s Award to the original Marion Bell Packaging Corporation plant.  The President’s Award wass given to the plant that had no work-loss injuries for a period of 365 days or longer (Bollinger).  John Bell Jr., outlined a new ‘philosophy’ and Marion’s plant was the first to install it.  He called it the ‘Bellway Transformation’, and in it he rejected the ‘age of entitlement’, instead advocating the earning of benefits and pay (Bollinger).  1997 brought a huge change for the company—it was going to be purchased by the subsidiary of the Australian-based Pratt Industries, Visy Industries.  At the time, they predicted no cuts in employee jobs and all contracts and agreements to continue as before the company was bought (Bollinger).  This prediction was true only until the year 2006.  Starting in 1999, the corporation started a downsizing that would continue over the years and end in 2007 with the plant’s closing.  The company said they could ‘better service customers through several similar plants’ (Kipp).  The closing of this historic corporation was a blow to Marion’s history and economy.  Its almost century of production had provided Grant County with steady employment and business throughout the company’s residence.