Seven Distinctive Products Made in Jax
Manufacturing is alive and well in Jacksonville. Here's a brief look at seven interesting companies producing products you're probably very familiar with.
1. BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards Jacksonville LLC
Courtesy of BAE
BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards is a division of BAE Systems Ship Repair, which belongs to BAE Systems, Inc. BAE Systems Southeast was formed from a 2010 acquisition between two major companies: Jacksonville's Atlantic Marine and JF Lehman Company.
Their headquarters is located here in Jacksonville, where they employ a totaled 900 people between here and their Mayport location. The Jax shipyards perform luxury yacht refits and repairs, commercial ship repairs and conversions, naval ship repairs and conversions, and industrial and marine fabrication and assembly. They are open 24/7, 365 days a year. They also have recently entered into the construction market, supporting the barge, energy, and dredge markets.
The Jax shipyard itself has 3 piers and one wharf, equaling roughly 1600 square feet. It also has 3 marine railways with lifts up to 4000 tons, and a sustained dry-dock with a 13,500 ton lift. They currently are executing a five-year, multi-option and ship contract for guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers.
Courtesy of BAE
2. Kaman Aerospace
Courtesy of Aerospace Manufacturing & Design
Kaman Aerospace is a U.S. aerospace company headquartered from Bloomfield, Connecticut. The company began all the way back in 1945 when it was founded by Charles Kaman. The company originally operated specifically as a manufacturer and designer for several helicopters, but expanded to aerospace operations in 1956. They also expanded into the music scene in the mid-1960s, eventually opening Kaman Music.
Jacksonville's Kaman Aerospace manufacturing facility is located in Imeson Industrial Park. They have two major divisions: Industrial Distribution and Aerospace. Their Industrial Distribution is one of the third largest in America. Their major product categories include: bearings, automation, electrical control, power distribution, and material handling. Their Aerospace division is involved in both the global commercial and military aerospace defense markets. Their major product categories include: airframe bearings, composite structures, helicopter service and support, and helicopter systems and components. Major companies, such as as Bell Helicopter and Boeing, are customers of Kaman.
Courtesy of Kaman
Kaman Aerospace is located at 227 Gun Club Road.
3. Mercury Luggage
Courtesy of Mercury Luggage
Mercury Luggage Company was founded in 1946 as a privately owned corporation in Jacksonville. They are a company that supplies premier, high-quality luggage, sports bags, and custom trunks to major corporations around the United States. A large company in of itself, in 1998, Mercury acquired Seward Trunk Company, one of the largest domestic manufacturers of trunks and luggage in the United States. Their domestic warehouse now exceeds 300,000 square feet.
Mercury makes luggage, bags, and trunks in an array of sizes and colors. Their company also does custom import orders and their camo pattern has been approved by the AAFES consumer protection laboratory of the United States Military. Mercury’s factories have been officially rated by the British Standards Institution as one of the outstanding manufacturers for these products.
Courtesy of Mercury Luggage
Mercury Luggage is located at 4843 Victor Street.
4. Metal Container Corporation
Metal Container Corporation is a branch of the Can Manufacturers Institute, a trade association in the United States that is responsible for the manufacturing and supplying of metal cans. The Can Manufacturers Institute was chartered in 1938, representing almost 40 can manufacturers at the time.
Specifically, the Metal Container Corporation, located here in Jacksonville, was founded in 1973. This company is a major supplier of cans to Jacksonville's Anheuser-Busch brewery. They supply approximately 45% of Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. beer cans and approximately 55% of its domestic lids. This operation also produces cans and lids for major companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
Metal Container Co. is located at 100 Ellis Road North.
5. Malnove Incorporated of Florida
Courtesy of Malnove
Malnove is a packaging and solutions company that has been around since before the 1950s. Since then, they have become the seventh largest “folding carton” manufacturer in the world. Malnove has locations in Florida, Nebraska, and Utah, but they serve all 50 U.S. states, as well as Canada, Mexico, and other parts of the Caribbean.
Malnove, as a whole, generates over $150 million in sales annually. Their products include folding cartons, packaging systems, promotional packaging, and thermo plastic trays.
Courtesy of Malnove
Malnove of Incorporated of Florida is located at 10500 Canada Drive.
6. TTX Company
TTX has been around since the 1950s, acting as a major provider to the rail industry. This company began under the Pennsylvania Railroad under the name “Trailer Train.” They decided to invest in new technology—flat cars, which could haul highway trailers. More rail carriers hoped on board, buying stock, and in 1974 the “pooling agreement” was reached.
Today, the company is known as TTX, and is primarily a railcar leasing and pooling company. Their iconic yellow cars can be seen on railroads all over the U.S., carrying everything from containers and automobiles to lumber and steel. TTX’s fleet is composed of over 220,000 railcars, and over the last five years or so, they have invested over $2 billion to add to that. TTX has its own engineering and design team top help take care of, and maintain, their large fleet of railcars across the U.S.
Jacksonville's TTX Company repair shop and fabrication facility is located just west of downtown at 1450 West Church Street.
7. US Ink Corporation
Courtesy of US Ink
US Ink Corporation dates back in the news ink marketplace to the later 1800s. The company we know it as now, US Ink Corporation, was formed in 1993 through a merger between U.S. Printing Ink and the News Ink Division. This company actually belongs to a larger company, the Sun Chemical Corporation, who is a leader in global graphic arts. US Ink has 8 regional manufacturing locations across the country, including one in Jacksonville, as an attempt to put their company as close to the consumers as possible.
US ink also conducts ongoing research in the field. They lead the industry thanks to their introduction of quality, “new-generation” products, such as soy-based inks. Products also include: black, color, and scented inks in different strengths and forms like “Speed Set” and “Aquanews.”
A tank car in the distance at US Ink Corporation's Shawland Road plant. The company produces ink for newsprint use.
US Ink Corporation can be found at 5200 Shawland Road.
Article by Kristen Pickrell
Courtesy of BAE
BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards is a division of BAE Systems Ship Repair, which belongs to BAE Systems, Inc. BAE Systems Southeast was formed from a 2010 acquisition between two major companies: Jacksonville's Atlantic Marine and JF Lehman Company.
Their headquarters is located here in Jacksonville, where they employ a totaled 900 people between here and their Mayport location. The Jax shipyards perform luxury yacht refits and repairs, commercial ship repairs and conversions, naval ship repairs and conversions, and industrial and marine fabrication and assembly. They are open 24/7, 365 days a year. They also have recently entered into the construction market, supporting the barge, energy, and dredge markets.
The Jax shipyard itself has 3 piers and one wharf, equaling roughly 1600 square feet. It also has 3 marine railways with lifts up to 4000 tons, and a sustained dry-dock with a 13,500 ton lift. They currently are executing a five-year, multi-option and ship contract for guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers.
Courtesy of BAE
2. Kaman Aerospace
Courtesy of Aerospace Manufacturing & Design
Kaman Aerospace is a U.S. aerospace company headquartered from Bloomfield, Connecticut. The company began all the way back in 1945 when it was founded by Charles Kaman. The company originally operated specifically as a manufacturer and designer for several helicopters, but expanded to aerospace operations in 1956. They also expanded into the music scene in the mid-1960s, eventually opening Kaman Music.
Jacksonville's Kaman Aerospace manufacturing facility is located in Imeson Industrial Park. They have two major divisions: Industrial Distribution and Aerospace. Their Industrial Distribution is one of the third largest in America. Their major product categories include: bearings, automation, electrical control, power distribution, and material handling. Their Aerospace division is involved in both the global commercial and military aerospace defense markets. Their major product categories include: airframe bearings, composite structures, helicopter service and support, and helicopter systems and components. Major companies, such as as Bell Helicopter and Boeing, are customers of Kaman.
Courtesy of Kaman
Kaman Aerospace is located at 227 Gun Club Road.
3. Mercury Luggage
Courtesy of Mercury Luggage
Mercury Luggage Company was founded in 1946 as a privately owned corporation in Jacksonville. They are a company that supplies premier, high-quality luggage, sports bags, and custom trunks to major corporations around the United States. A large company in of itself, in 1998, Mercury acquired Seward Trunk Company, one of the largest domestic manufacturers of trunks and luggage in the United States. Their domestic warehouse now exceeds 300,000 square feet.
Mercury makes luggage, bags, and trunks in an array of sizes and colors. Their company also does custom import orders and their camo pattern has been approved by the AAFES consumer protection laboratory of the United States Military. Mercury’s factories have been officially rated by the British Standards Institution as one of the outstanding manufacturers for these products.
Courtesy of Mercury Luggage
Mercury Luggage is located at 4843 Victor Street.
4. Metal Container Corporation
Metal Container Corporation is a branch of the Can Manufacturers Institute, a trade association in the United States that is responsible for the manufacturing and supplying of metal cans. The Can Manufacturers Institute was chartered in 1938, representing almost 40 can manufacturers at the time.
Specifically, the Metal Container Corporation, located here in Jacksonville, was founded in 1973. This company is a major supplier of cans to Jacksonville's Anheuser-Busch brewery. They supply approximately 45% of Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. beer cans and approximately 55% of its domestic lids. This operation also produces cans and lids for major companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
Metal Container Co. is located at 100 Ellis Road North.
5. Malnove Incorporated of Florida
Courtesy of Malnove
Malnove is a packaging and solutions company that has been around since before the 1950s. Since then, they have become the seventh largest “folding carton” manufacturer in the world. Malnove has locations in Florida, Nebraska, and Utah, but they serve all 50 U.S. states, as well as Canada, Mexico, and other parts of the Caribbean.
Malnove, as a whole, generates over $150 million in sales annually. Their products include folding cartons, packaging systems, promotional packaging, and thermo plastic trays.
Courtesy of Malnove
Malnove of Incorporated of Florida is located at 10500 Canada Drive.
6. TTX Company
TTX has been around since the 1950s, acting as a major provider to the rail industry. This company began under the Pennsylvania Railroad under the name “Trailer Train.” They decided to invest in new technology—flat cars, which could haul highway trailers. More rail carriers hoped on board, buying stock, and in 1974 the “pooling agreement” was reached.
Today, the company is known as TTX, and is primarily a railcar leasing and pooling company. Their iconic yellow cars can be seen on railroads all over the U.S., carrying everything from containers and automobiles to lumber and steel. TTX’s fleet is composed of over 220,000 railcars, and over the last five years or so, they have invested over $2 billion to add to that. TTX has its own engineering and design team top help take care of, and maintain, their large fleet of railcars across the U.S.
Jacksonville's TTX Company repair shop and fabrication facility is located just west of downtown at 1450 West Church Street.
7. US Ink Corporation
Courtesy of US Ink
US Ink Corporation dates back in the news ink marketplace to the later 1800s. The company we know it as now, US Ink Corporation, was formed in 1993 through a merger between U.S. Printing Ink and the News Ink Division. This company actually belongs to a larger company, the Sun Chemical Corporation, who is a leader in global graphic arts. US Ink has 8 regional manufacturing locations across the country, including one in Jacksonville, as an attempt to put their company as close to the consumers as possible.
US ink also conducts ongoing research in the field. They lead the industry thanks to their introduction of quality, “new-generation” products, such as soy-based inks. Products also include: black, color, and scented inks in different strengths and forms like “Speed Set” and “Aquanews.”
A tank car in the distance at US Ink Corporation's Shawland Road plant. The company produces ink for newsprint use.
US Ink Corporation can be found at 5200 Shawland Road.
Article by Kristen Pickrell