Graham Packaging to invest $6.7 million in expansion in Campbell County

Specifications:

Name:

Graham Packaging to invest $6.7 million in expansion in Campbell County

Location:

Campbell County

Company:

Graham Packaging

Estimated Cost:

$6.7 Million

Source:

www.newsadvance.com

Graham Packaging, a plastic packaging company, will invest $6.7 million to expand its manufacturing operation in Campbell County according to a news release issued by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office Saturday morning. The announcement, issued a little over an hour before Gov.-elect Ralph Northam was slated to be sworn in as the 73rd governor of Virginia, marked the final economic development announcement of the McAuliffe administration.

The investment will create eight new jobs and 37 existing employees will be retrained to operate new technology.

“Graham Packaging chose to expand in the Commonwealth of Virginia because we already had a foundation in the Altavista area with a skilled workforce and an established customer base who has been seeing rising demand,” William Campbell, Graham Packaging plant manager said in the news release. “The decision made economic sense for everyone involved.”

Graham Packaging designs, sells and manufactures custom blow-molded plastic containers for branded foods and beverages, personal care and specialty products, household products, chemical-based products and automotive lubricants. It works with consumer product companies in North America, Europe, South America and Asia

“We are pleased to see that Graham Packaging has agreed to re-invest in Campbell County,” Sen. Steven Newman, R-Bedford County said in the news re-lease. “They will provide more jobs and invest millions in our community.”

The fact that Graham Packaging has decided to keep its employees in Altavista and retrain them for its next product, rather than relocate them to another plant, is just as important as the expansion and new jobs, according to Altavista Town Manager Waverly Coggsdale.

“They have expanded three or four times. They continue growing their products and providing jobs in our county which is very beneficial. We appreciate their commitment to the town and the community. They are a great corporate citizen,” Coggsdale said on Saturday.

Coggsdale said Graham Packaging is slated to spend roughly $7 million on its physical plant and more than $6 million on equipment as part of this expansion.

“The key is the investment Graham’s making in the community” Coggsdale said noting this will grow the town and county’s revenues from real estate and machinery and tools taxes. In the county the current machinery and tools tax rate is $3.25 per $100 of assessed value while the real estate tax rate is $0.52 per $100 of assessed value.

According to Bloomberg, the York, Pa.-based company founded in 1997, has 8,300 employees and for the third quarter and nine months ending September of 2017 it reported $537 million in revenue down from $559 the previous year.

In 2004 Graham Packaging, purchased glass and plastic package manufacturer Owens-Illinois which had opened in Altavista in 2002 to provide products to Abbott, which makes nutritional products.

In 2008 Graham invested in a $12 million 60,000-square-foot expansion of its Altavista facility adding 10 new jobs to the 31 already in place. The move doubled the size of its plant in the town’s industrial park on Ogden Road.

The town of Altavista, Campbell County and the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission each invested $100,000 in the original deal to bring Owens-Illinois to Altavista. In 2008 Campbell County and Altavista provided industrial incentive grants to Graham Packaging for an expansion. This year The Virginia Economic Development Partnership will support the new jobs and job retraining through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program which offers consulting and funding. VJIP is state funded.

Saturday’s announcement helped McAuliffe close out his term in office with more than $20 billion in capital investments.