Jim Schwartzburg In the early 1970s, after Jim Schwartzburg had an overrun of 10,000 blue plastic cups at his Lawrence factory, Packer Plastics, he approached Kansas University athletics about purchasing them. The department took a pass. A few weeks later, Schwartzburg returned with the same cups, which were now covered with Jayhawk logos. The athletic department couldn’t resist. The cups sold out by halftime of the next football game. Thus, the souvenir stadium cup in America was born. “He was just a genius — that’s all there is to say,” said John Novotny, then the business manager for KU athletics who went on to work for Packer Plastics as a sales manager for 16 years. “He had the vision
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to see where plastics could go.” This was one of the many innovations Schwartzburg brought to the plastics industry, from the time he founded Packer Plastics until he sold it to a New York-based hedge fund in 1997. Schwartzburg built the business from five employees and 20,000 square feet in 1968 to 570 employes and 420,000 square feet at the time of the sale. Berry Plastics remains one of the largest employers in Lawrence. Schwartzburg grew up in Miami, and went on to attend the University of Florida, where he was an AllAmerican football player. After college, he came to Kansas to take a job with his uncle. He later worked in plastics, getting experience in the industry
BILL PENNY
By Giles Bruce | gbruce@ljworld.com
where he would make his career. Jim Rose, a former manufacturing manager for Packer Plastics, recalled the story of how when Schwartzburg was going to sign the papers to open a plant in Missouri on a Monday morning, he convened Lawrence bankers on a Sunday afternoon to give his pitch for opening his plant here. “That’s the kind of guy he was. He’s a survivor,” Rose said. “Many times, the current was going south and he wanted to go north. At the time, you think he lost his mind, but it’s amazing what he’s achieved over the years.” Schwartzburg, who is married with three children and six grandkids, still See JIM SCHWARTZBURG page 7.
JIM SCHWARTZBURG
SIDNEY ASHTON GARRETT
2014 Lawrence Business Hall of Fame