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Veteran North American Manufacturing Executive Scott Murchison Named Executive Vice President-Operations at Duro Bag Manufacturing Co.

Murchison most recently served as President of the North American Glass Container business for Owens Illinois (NYSE: OI), a $2.5 billion revenue business with 6,000 employees and 21 glass manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada.

Prior to that, he was Vice President and General Manager of the Beverage Packaging Division of International Paper (NYSE: IP), with $900 million in revenues, 2,900 employees across 16 facilities in 11 countries. Murchison led the sale of the IP division to Graeme Hart's Rank Group Investments Ltd. in 2007.

At Duro Bag, Murchison is responsible for leading all aspects of Duro Bag operations in the U.S. and Mexico. He reports to divisional presidents John Gillen and Don Breen on day-to-day business operations, manufacturing productivity, supporting customer programs and all other operational matters in their divisions. He reports to Duro Bag Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charles Shor on strategic manufacturing initiatives, improving operational excellence and new business opportunities.

"Duro Bag has a strong history as a customer-centered company. It also has a robust manufacturing base and dedicated employees," said Murchison. "I will help further develop world-class operations distinguished on product quality, innovation, low-cost production, highly responsive customer service and environmental responsibility."

At Owens-Illinois, Murchison successfully restructured the business by reducing costs, increasing facility utilization, productivity, sales and profits. He brought the North American region to record profitability in 2009.

"Scott's appointment is an important step forward for our company's commitment to having the lowest-cost operations and the highest standard of manufacturing excellence," said Shor. "He brings a deep knowledge of our industry and will lead Duro into the next generation of best practices."

About Duro Bag Manufacturing Company

Duro Bag is the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of high-quality paper bags for retail, foodservice, grocery, mass-merchandise and wholesale/distribution companies in North America. Multi-generation, family-owned Duro Bag produces more than 25 billion bags annually at 10 manufacturing facilities across the U.S. and in Mexico, employing more than 2,500 people.

Based in the Cincinnati metropolitan area, Duro Bag develops, manufactures and markets the widest selection of environmentally friendly, durable, multi-use paper bags, packaging and world-class graphics solutions, enabling Duro customers to effectively and efficiently get their brand images and messaging into the hands of millions of consumers every day. Through its Duro Standard and Duro Designer divisions, the company works with customers to identify new trends, pioneer new markets and deliver innovative brand building solutions together with on-time fulfillment and logistics support.

• The Duro Standard division supports its customers with leading go-to-market, customer-branded bags in grocery, grocery handle bags, merchandise, paper lawn and leaf bags as well as specialty bags including lunch, pharmacy, liquor bags, Freshness Paper bread bags, foodservice bags and much more.

• The Duro Designer division custom develops and produces the broadest range of value and luxury shopping bags that also support major retailers' brand images and messages. Duro Designer's unique full-service solutions include concept, design, vivid graphics and specialty converting.

Duro Bag offers the widest selection of environmentally responsible and sustainable coated and uncoated papers made with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified pre- and post-consumer waste fibers, including 100% post-consumer waste and process-chlorine free papers in thousands of colors and textures.

Duro Bag has a strong 50-year record and commitment to environmental leadership by reducing and re-using waste at its manufacturing operations, achieving net reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, reducing its carbon footprint and working with customers to improve sustainability in their products and supply chains.

Duro Bag Manufacturing Co.
Tim Young, Duro Bag Vice President-Human Resources, 859-371-2150, ext. 303