About Us

Our History

The history of Tee Group Films dates back to the late 1890s�before the introduction of plastics. The original company, Chicago-based Joanna Western Mills, manufactured coated cloth products for the rubber industry and established working relationships with major tire, rubber and tape companies, some of them still going strong after more than a century.

In 1958, Joanna Western Mills entered a joint venture with Phillips Petroleum to form the Phillips-Joanna Company, which specialized in the use of high density polyethylene plastic to produce cigarette-wrapping films. The Phillips-Joanna manufacturing facility was constructed in Ladd, Illinois and began production in 1959. Within a few years, the joint venture terminated and Phillips-Joanna became a wholly owned division of Joanna Western Mills.

In the early 1960s, IBM asked Phillips-Joanna to develop a film substrate for its recently introduced correctable typewriter. As the correctable typewriter grew in popularity, the Phillips-Joanna product set a worldwide benchmark for correctable ribbons, as specified by equipment manufacturers and supply companies alike.

On January 24, 2000, Tee Group Films, Inc. acquired the Phillips-Joanna division from ICG. Present Tee Group Films owners, Thomas J. Lavelle and Thomas H. Malpass, are the former ICG CFO and Vice President of Film Operations, respectively.

Tee Group Films has grown all aspects of the business. The company has expanded its manufacturing plant, added several new lines and has entered several new markets, including aerospace, construction and packaging, and also develops new custom film products for niche applications.