Continental Structural Plastics Announces Retirement, Promotion at Conneaut, Ohio, Facility

JESSICA VAN EPPS NAMED PLANT MANAGER

Auburn Hills, Michigan – January 18, 2021 — Continental Structural Plastics (CSP), a Teijin Group Company, today announced the retirement of long-time Conneaut Plant Manager Dave Murtha, and the promotion of Jessica Van Epps as his successor.

After 37 years, Dave Murtha, plant manager at CSP’s Conneaut, Ohio, facility has retired from CSP. Murtha, who was the plant manager at the Conneaut facility for 21 years, joined the company – then Trans Plastics – in 1984 as a deflasher/trimmer. From there Murtha took on roles with additional responsibilities, serving as a job leader, a supervisor and the manufacturing manager at a Venture Industries-owned facility in Lancaster, Ohio. At that point, Venture also owned the Conneaut facility. Murtha was named the Conneaut plant manager in 1999.

Jessica Van Epps has been selected to succeed Murtha as plant manager. Van Epps has been promoted from operations manager, a position she’s held since 2018. This makes Van Epps just the second female plant manager in CSP history, behind Karen Williams, plant manager at Huntington, Indiana.

Van Epps joined the CSP Conneaut team 2014 as a materials manager. Prior to joining CSP, Van Epps was a purchasing agent for Plastek. She’s also worked as a buyer, an office manager and a temporary employment specialist in the financial and service industries. Van Epps holds an associate’s degree in Human Resources from Lakeland Community College, a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Ursuline College, and a master’s degree in Organizational Management from Capella University.  She is also a Six Sigma Lean Manufacturing Green Belt.

“We are sorry to see Dave go, but we certainly appreciate his years of dedication and service to CSP,” said Steve Rooney, CSP’s CEO. “I am also very happy to have someone as qualified and experienced as Jessica ready to take over for Dave. The future for the Conneaut facility is very bright, and we’re excited to work with Jessica to continue to grow our business there.”

About Continental Structural Plastics

Continental Structural Plastics, a Teijin Group company, has provided leading-edge technologies in lightweight composite solutions for the automotive, heavy truck, HVAC and construction industries for 50 years. Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, CSP provides full-service engineering support, and holds multiple patents covering materials development and manufacturing processes. The company has operations on three continents and more than 4,300 employees. For more information, visit cspplastics.com.

About the Teijin Group

Teijin (TSE: 3401) is a technology-driven global group offering advanced solutions in the areas of environmental value; safety, security and disaster mitigation; and demographic change and increased health consciousness. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers & composites, healthcare, films, resin & plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT. The group has over 170 companies and around 20,000 employees spread out over 20 countries worldwide. It posted consolidated sales of JPY888.6 billion (USD 8.1 billion) and total assets of JPY1020.7 billion (USD 9.3 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019. Please visit www.teijin.com.