BUSINESS MEMO: ADDING NEW EQUIPMENT

Solar Communications, an international printing and packaging company specializing in direct marketing, is adding sophisticated insertion and mailing equipment to its Perryville operations.

Solar, headquartered at Naperville, Ill., and Madison Direct Marketing recently agreed to combine direct mail production and direct marketing expertise to create an improve direct mail product."We have been in the packaging business 37 years," said Frank Hudetz, CEO and president of Solar Communications. "The addition of this packaging equipment at Perryville will create internal growth and expanded employment opportunities for the Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois region."Madison Direct Marketing is acquiring the packaging equipment form the Buhrs Group of Holland.

The new equipment will provide capabilities of including on-line printing/imaging of bar codes or messages and insertion of up to 40 different inserts/samples selectively driven off a database.

The new equipment will also expand the sampling capabilities to handle samples of almost any size or shape, said Chris Hulse, president of Madison.

Solar Communications employs more than 500 people throughout the United States and Europe, with about 200 permanent jobs along with some temporary workers at the Perryville plant.

Solar was founded in 1961 and established a facility at Perryville in 1988, expanding from 40,000 square feet to the more than 160,000 square feet today.