RELATED: Kodak to keep business in Kettering
Company officers are hosting a dinner event this evening where they officially made the announcement.
“Kodak’s Enterprise Inkjet Systems Division is a world leader in the development of high-speed inkjet technology based on 50 years of combined expertise and resources,” Randy Vandagriff, president of the division, said in a statement. “We are excited to be working closely with Dayton History’s museum collections department to establish a new exhibit at Carillon Historical Park recognizing the manufacturing and R&D contributions of our Dayton facility.”
Kodak in April reversed previously announced plans to sell its Prosper inkjet business, which is based in Kettering’s Miami Valley Research Park. The decision preserved about 400 local jobs.
The company said the unit performed well enough in 2016 to justify keeping it.
“This is a pragmatic decision given the improvements in the business and the offers received,” Jeff Clarke, Kodak chief executive, said in a statement at the time. “Prosper performed well in 2016 with a 40 percent increase in annuity sales for the full year.”
Vandagriff — whom the company said has played a key role in the development of “Ultrastream,” it’s latest inkjet technology, and Kodak’s digital print business — became president of the Enterprise Inkjet Systems division in May.
Brady Kress, Dayton History CEO, applauded the news.
“It does makes that connection (between Dayton and Kodak), that I don’t think a lot of people in town know about,” he said. “This links back to (paper producer) Mead, which ties it even further back in Dayton’s history. We’re excited.”
Dayton History did not have any artifacts from Kodak’s history, Kress said. So when Kodak approached the organization about gifting an early artifact, Dayton History was receptive, he said.
He wasn’t certain what the artifact will be or what the exhibit will entail. Planning is only beginning, Kress said.
“It is like one of a thousand other tales here in town,” Kress added, pointing to the development of other everyday items that were developed in the Dayton area, like the pop-top can, LCD electronics or the ATM machine.
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