Asheville-based Plasticard-Locktech International has acquired the hotel keycard division of Canadian company LOC International. The acquisition further enhances its standing as the world’s largest manufacturer of hotel keycards and a leading specialty printer.

“This is an enormous and exciting development for our company,” said PLI Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Peter M. Krauss. “This deal brings several large contracts to our company including contracts with some of the biggest names in hospitality.”

“With 46 years of combined hospitality expertise, the joint efforts of the two groups bring an unparalleled level of experience and support to the hospitality industry.”

PLI has grown aggressively by pursuing new markets, such as casino hotels and cruise lines; expanding existing relationships with customers in the gift and loyalty market; and securing a substantial number of international clients. The latter led to PLI opening its Netherlands facility in 2010.

“Acquiring LOC’s keycard division is another step in PLI expanding its international business as well,” said Krauss. “Clients all over the world have come to rely on us for quality products at manufacturer-direct prices with a quick turnaround, regardless of where they’re located. This new development will provide us with the opportunity to grow our business both in the States and abroad at an even faster pace.” 

As part of the acquisition of LOC’s keycard division, Richard Tanguay, founder and president of LOC International, will join PLI as Executive Vice President of Hospitality. Richard brings 20-plus years of hospitality experience to the PLI management team. PLI Hospitality provides hotels and resorts with a variety of specialty printed products for marketing and operations. Tanguay, along with his sales team, will continue to work out of Quebec, Canada in PLI’s new Canadian sales office. This sales team will be focused primarily on supporting Canadian customers while helping to maintain existing national and international contracts.

“I am very excited to be part of the PLI team”, said Richard Tanguay, President of LOC International. “PLI’s production capabilities and customer support teams will allow us to provide an even higher level of support to our existing clients while allowing us the ability to further expand the combined business.”

LOC International will continue to operate out of its existing offices in Canada, selling in-room safes, electronic door locks and mini-bars and other hotel related items.

For more information on PLI, visit www.plicards.com or call 1-800-752-1017.

Asheville-based Plasticard-Locktech International has wrapped up its annual holiday fundraising drive, collecting $3,250 to provide Christmas gifts for needy families in Western North Carolina.

“PLI has always placed a focus on giving back to the community that has supported us,” said Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Peter M. Krauss. “Our employees consistently look forward to our holiday fundraising activities, with participation increasing year after year. This year, we raised 50 percent more than in 2010.”

Employees held various fundraising activities from August through November, including a bake sale and chili cook-off, with staff contributing, preparing and selling the food. Bruegger’s Bagels, Domino’s Pizza, Neo Burrito and The Olive Garden donated meals that were sold to employees at a reduced cost. Biltmore Estate, Fine Arts Theatre, The Grey Eagle, Luella’s Bar-B-Que, Marco’s Pizzeria, The Spa at The Grove Park Inn Resort and Wildwater Adventures provided items for raffles that also included extra paid time off. And the Eddie’s Mobile Dog House food truck donated a portion of proceeds from one day at PLI to the cause.

All money raised was used to buy gifts for four families receiving assistance through Eblen-Kimmel’s Saint Nicholas Project.

An additional drive was held to collect food for Manna Food Bank, with three barrels of non-perishable food items collected.

Asheville-based Plasticard-Locktech International (PLI), the world’s largest manufacturer of hotel keycards and a specialty printer of plastic and paper products, announced today that the company has earned Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) Chain-of-Custody certification from the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood program. This makes PLI one of only three major plastics printers worldwide to offer paper products that carry the FSC seal.

“Receiving FSC certification shows that PLI is committed to the highest environmental standards,” said Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Peter M. Krauss. “It also gives our customers an edge by allowing them to weave their environmental initiatives into the printed materials used for operations, marketing and more.”

As a result of this certification, PLI products printed on certified paper stock – including an option that’s both recyclable and biodegradable – can carry the FSC and Rainforest Alliance (RA) labels. This guarantees customers that the products they are buying are the result of practices balancing ecological, economic, and social considerations throughout every part of the supply chain, from the forest to the finished product.

Receiving FSC certification required PLI to develop a new batch of processes and procedures. For example, raw materials that will be used for FSC-labeled finished goods must be quarantined from non-FSC materials, and each live job must be clearly labeled as FSC every step of the way to ensure the integrity of the FSC label.

“Earning this certification was no small undertaking, but it shows that the entire PLI team – from upper management through sales to production and quality control – is dedicated to the FSC and Rainforest Alliance mission,” said Krauss.

PLI’s FSC certification is the latest chapter in its long history of environmental consciousness. The company’s commitment to the environment goes well beyond the materials it uses and touches every aspect of operation. The company’s printing process uses low-VOC chemicals. Plate making is chemical-free and the presses are alcohol-free, utilizing a closed, water-based system. Inks used are inert UV inks. 100% of paper, plastic and aluminum manufacturing waste is recycled, as is all office waste.

In 2008, PLI was the recipient of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s first Go Green Award for an extensive “greening” of its facility, which included coating the 64,000 square-foot galvanized roof with a protective product that conserves energy by reflecting the sun, and switching warehouse lighting to energy-efficient T5 and T8 fluorescents with motion detectors, which use 80% less power than conventional lights.

“Our FSC and Rainforest Alliance certification ushers in an exciting new era for PLI,” said Krauss. “As we continue in our third decade of serving clients, we have a new opportunity to present them with products that are not only on the cutting edge of design and technology, but on the cutting edge of environmental sustainability as well.”

# # #

About PLI: Plasticard-Locktech International is the world’s largest hotel keycard manufacturer and a leading specialty printer of plastic and paper products. Founded in 1988, the company works with hoteliers, retailers, restaurants, attractions and event planners worldwide, producing hundreds of millions of items each year. For more information, visit www.plicards.com.

About The Rainforest Alliance: The Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit conservation organization, is the world’s leading certifier of forestlands to the FSC standards. To date, the organization has certified 156 million acres of forestland. The Rainforest Alliance works with businesses in making more responsible choices by using market forces to protect our natural resources and support workers and local communities. For more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org and www.fsc.org.