We began in 1910, in the Bemis neighborhood of Watertown.
Back then, we were making a chewing gum base for Wrigley and natural latex-based hot melt adhesives for New England’s shoe industry.

Through the years, we’ve pivoted our focus to adapt to changing needs and markets.

Our business made adhesive coated foil that was used in bottle cap liners for the beer bottle industry – Michelob was our final customer in the late 50s.

Bemis found a use for PVC that didn’t require solvents in apparel applications such as iron-on patches, emblem backing, and sewing notions.

We explored hot melt adhesives coated to fabrics that were used in printing labels for the mattress and carpet label industry.

Steve Howard took up the helm in 1982, leading Bemis into new industries and expanding our presence in existing ones.
We invested in the new technology of cast extrusion to expand into new markets – apparel, W.L. Gore. And in 1988, acquired General Fabric Fusing to expand our portfolio offering and market share.

In 1990, Bemis moved to a new, modern facility in Shirley, Massachusetts.

We acquired two companies – Noslo to increase our technical know-how and our market share, and Electroseal to add product formulations, grow our technical expertise, and get entry into the technical outerwear space.

We established our multi-layer co-extrusion capability as well as shifted to a direct-to-brand approach in the outerwear market and Bemis Sewfree® came to life.

In 2005, we acquired H&H Machinery. This acquisition granted us direct factory access which became the blueprint for today’s well-known Bemis service model.

Bemis partnered with HB Fuller to introduce Sewfree on Demand®, our drop-on-demand bonding technology, to the market.

Additionally, we acquired SRI Taiwan and integrated reflective film materials to the Bemis product portfolio.

We are on a trajectory that promises to only get better and better. Our associations are strong and productive. The collaboration we find with our partners puts us in a unique position to innovate and explore with them, arm in arm. And as industries change there is an ever-growing place for our products and our ecosystem.