Citing the need for a custom blow molder to serve small and midsize companies in New York's Finger Lakes region, Cortland Plastics International LLC is preparing to launch in January.
The Cortland, N.Y.-based continuous extrusion blow molder will open in a 25,000-square-foot plant with about 16 workers. The firm will start with the capacity to blow mold between $5 million and $6 million worth of products annually, plant manager David Kievit said Nov. 20 by phone.
Kievet declined to disclose the investment or initial number of blow molding lines.
The company will make food-packaging supplies, but eventually will venture into other industries, including containers for the household chemical, pharmaceutical, lawn and garden, and automotive markets, Kievet said.
Officials expect to employ about 50 within three years.
The firm will process polyethylene, polypropylene, thermoplastic elastomers and Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC's K-Resin styrene butadiene copolymer.
Cortland officials said the firm is designed to be fast, flexible and able to perform long and short job runs, making products of all shapes, sizes and materials.
``We feel there's tremendous opportunity for the small to midsize end users who are not getting served the way they should be,'' Kievet said.
Cortland has invested heavily in automated materials-handling, robotics and downstream auxiliary equipment, he said.
``What's nice about blow molding machines is, by changing the configuration of the machines, you can produce 2-gallon bottles on a machine, and tomorrow, a 2-ounce cylinder,'' he said. ``The key with today's technology is flexibility.''
Patrick Dessein is Cortland's chief executive officer and a financial partner with Kievet.