Phoenix Packaging announced a 145-job expansion Wednesday, bringing total employment above 600 and solidifying the manufacturer’s position as the second largest employer in Pulaski County, behind only Volvo Trucks.

The company, which makes plastic containers for major food suppliers such as Yoplait, Dannon, Keurig and Dean Foods, will create the jobs with a 250,000-square-foot expansion that will cost about $48 million.

It’s the Columbia-based company’s fourth expansion since opening in Dublin in 2010.

“We believe [the new jobs] are just a down payment, because we think in the next five years we’re going to be able to double this company,” Phoenix Packaging U.S. CEO Carlos Tapias told Wednesday’s crowd, which included Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Pulaski County Economic Development Director Michael Solomon said Phoenix Packaging has spent the past two years planning the expansion and negotiating with county officials over tax incentives to make it happen.

In the end, the county and local Industrial Development Authority, which owns Phoenix’s building, agreed to refund $200,000 worth of property taxes for each of the next three years, for a total of $600,000. Local leaders also worked with lenders in order to handle financing for the project.

In exchange, Phoenix will hire 145 additional workers, with an average salary of around $40,000.

The new facility will sit in what is now Phoenix’s parking lot, connecting its two plants with a new warehouse.

Pulaski County Administrator Jonathan Sweet said they’re calling the incentive package the Pulaski Performance Grant, or PPG. He hopes it will be the first of many more like it that use more creative means to aggressively recruit employers to move into and grow in the county.

Sweet pointed out how Dublin is establishing itself as a hub for international manufacturers, between Phoenix Packaging, Volvo Trucks from Sweden, Korona Candles from Poland and Red Sun Farms from Mexico.

“Because of the success they’ve had, other foreign companies will say, ‘They’ve gone to Virginia, they’ve got the workforce. We’re going to go to Virginia as well,’ ” McAuliffe said in an interview after Wednesday’s announcement. “The marketing of this really allows me to go all over the globe.”

 

Source: roanoke.com

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