Ebonite International has added bowling pins to its Bowling Center Direct offerings with its acquisition of Diamond Duramid Bowling Pins from IQ Bowling Industries, part of the BowlTech Group in Europe.

“This is a great strategic fit for our company,” Ebonite International Chief Executive Officer Randy Schickert said. “As we seek to grow our bowling center service product business, we can now add bowling pins to our existing lines of house balls and rental shoes.”

With the acquisition, Ebonite International will move the production of the bowling pins from a manufacturing facility in Mexico to its long-established facility in Hopkinsville, Ky.

The company also will be initiating a bowling center-focused sales function to service centers. Combined, these endeavors will add numerous new jobs to the company.

“In today’s economy, we are especially proud to be bringing jobs back to the United States,” Schickert said. “This is a real win-win for our company and for Hopkinsville.”

The Ebonite International product development team is already working on new bowling pin technology. The company plans to introduce a new design that will be considerably better than past products.

“As with everything we do, our bowling pins will be designed and manufactured to the highest possible standards,” Schickert said.

Ebonite Bowling Center Direct is the commercial product brand for Ebonite International. It includes consumable service products specifically for bowling centers.

Tom Hayes, who joined the company in July as product manager for non-ball consumer items, will serve as the brand manager for Ebonite Bowling Center Direct.