manufacturer . for the shipping company see dart container line . dart container corporation type private industry single use food service packaging founded 1960 founder william a. dart headquarters mason michigan number of locations 45 production distribution office facilities key people robert c. dart ceo kenneth dart chairman products foam food service products plastic cups & containers paper cups number of employees 15 000 website http dartcontainer.com dart container corporation 1 of mason michigan united states is the world s largest manufacturer of foam cups and containers producing about as many as all competitors combined . 2 dart container is privately held by the dart family . in may 2012 dart acquired illinois based solo cup company and now has approximately 15 000 employees and more than 45 production distribution center and office locations in eight countries . 3 contents 1 company history 2 operations 3 solo cup company 4 irs controversy 5 relation to other notable darts 5.1 rollin dart 6 references company history edit dart manufacturing company was founded in 1937 by william f. dart as a machine shop manufacturing key rings steel tape measures and dog tags for the department of defense . 4 when his son william a. dart came out of the university of michigan with three degrees metallurgy mathematics and engineering he worked for dupont briefly then joined the family business in the late 1950s . he experimented with and perfected an expandable polystyrene eps molding process and shipped their first insulated foam cups in april 1960 . 4 dart container corporation was incorporated in 1960 . 5 operations edit dart container corporation is vertically integrated which according to the company makes it virtually self sufficient . we manufacture our own equipment produce the raw material for our products turn the raw materials into finished products and then deliver them throughout the world via trucks we own and operate . there are only a few things like cartons that we don t produce in house . we even have our own printing capabilities and make our own ink 4 family business ranks dart container 37th in their listing of family companies with an estimated 1.1 billion in sales and 4 950 employees . 6 dart has operational corporate offices in mason michigan corporate headquarters deerfield beach florida dart container sales company lake forest illinois solo cup office owings mills maryland solo cup transportation & logistics domestic production distribution facilities 7 corona california lodi california rialto california plant city florida augusta georgia conyers georgia lithonia georgia social circle georgia thomaston georgia twin falls idaho chicago illinois north aurora illinois university park illinois urbana illinois horse cave kentucky owensboro kentucky federalsburg maryland hampstead maryland holt michigan mason michigan quitman mississippi randleman north carolina ada oklahoma leola pennsylvania lancaster pennsylvania dallas texas grand prairie texas waxahachie texas tacoma washington tumwater washington international subsidiaries have manufacturing distribution facilities in 7 pilar buenos aires argentina smithfield new south wales australia pindamonhangaba brazil campbellford ontario canada toronto ontario canada atlacomulco mexico cuautitl n mexico tijuana mexico panama city panama cradley heath uk huntingdon uk peterborough uk stretham uk solo cup company edit dart container purchased solo cup company in may 2012 in a deal valued at approximately 1 billion . 8 the iconic solo red cup was slated to remain under the solo name . 9 irs controversy edit the company is owned by brothers kenneth b. dart and robert c. dart who renounced their u.s. citizenship in 1994 . 10 kenneth dart then established a relationship with the nation of belize which promptly sought u.s. permission to open a consulate in sarasota with dart as its consul . 11 the request was rejected by the state department and the brothers eventually moved to the cayman islands . 12 they have several business concerns on the islands including dart enterprises which is a holding company involved in several projects 13 including the camana bay town development . 14 in 2001 the us internal revenue service said the dart brothers improperly billed 11.6 million of personal security costs to dart container . in u.s. tax court dart container argued the money was a valid business expense due to specific threats and other facts and circumstances . half the money went for corporate aircraft . the irs asked for 4 million more for 1996 and 1997 taxes . in 2003 the internal revenue service took the brothers to court saying they owed an additional 19 million in 1998 and 1999 taxes . 10 in 2002 the dart brothers and their companies paid 26 million in back taxes . 10 in may 2013 fifty agents of the argentine tax authority raided the local dart container subsidiary dart sudamericana srl on alleged tax evasion charges . the tax authority claimed that the firm imported polystrene beads at inflated prices thus avoiding taxable gains through the unfair transfer pricing scheme . 15 relation to other notable darts edit rollin dart edit rollin dart of mason michigan who served as chairman of dart national bank from 1962 to 2007 is a cousin of the dart container family . references edit company website hoovers factsheet 1 a b c lansing business monthly incorporated 1960 by w. a. dart top family businesses a b the dart story dart solo acquisition solo cup dart container purchase a b c forbes informer http articles.latimes.com 2008 jun 15 business fi perfin15 the us cracks down on rich tax evaders their cups runneth over dart enterprises camana bay the team argentina raids dart styrofoam maker over tax evasion charges retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dart container & oldid 712984793 categories companies based in ingham county michigancompanies established in 1937economy of lansing michigan navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 1 april 2016 at 06 09 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view