Five Star Holding Corp., Houston, Texas, USA, has appointed Michael S. Ukropina CEO of the group of companies. Prior to joining Five Star, Ukropina was SVP overseeing Graphic Packaging's $2.4 billion Consumer Packaging Division, served as president of ASG-Worldwide, and held a variety of management positions within International Paper's packaging operations. Ukropina earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and completed his undergraduate work at Colorado College. 

"As part of our board's strategic plan to expand our management team and continually improve our operations, we have invested substantial time and energy to identify a leader with the experience and strategic vision to support the continued growth of our privately held companies, of which ownership remains unchanged. Mike Ukropina is an exceptional fit in all regards, and as importantly, he shares our values of integrity, hard work, and respect," said Isaac Bazbaz, who will remain actively involved as chairman of Five Star. 

Ukropina said that "I am honored by the opportunity to join the Five Star family. Under the current leadership, Five Star has experienced extraordinary growth. The investment in world-class facilities, commitment to customers, and focus on product innovation has established Five Star as a leader in its key market segments. I am excited to lead the company in this next phase of growth." 

 

Five Star is an integrated group of manufacturing companies with flexible packaging, printed films, bag making. and other plastic processing capabilities. Five Star is vertically-integrated across five locations that encompass extrusion, printing, and converting operations. The company provides innovative packaging solutions to Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods companies and large national retailers across the following five business entities:

• StarPak combines industry leading printing and extrusion capabilities to produce technical films, bags, and pouches for consumer packaged goods and industrial products companies. 
• Polytex provides innovative laminated woven sacks, quad seal bags, and other flexible structures for various consumer markets, including pet foods and treats. 
• Superbag is a leading manufacturer and converter of environmentally friendly retail carry-out, grocery bags, t-shirt sacks, and extruded films. 
• Fresh Pak is a state-of-the-art recycling operation that manufactures extruded products from, and provides toll processing of, post-consumer and industrial recycled resins. 
• Jumbo Bag provides bulk container bags that are custom designed to meet demanding customer applications.