Jacobson Plastics Inc. has invested about $4.4 million to buy a 50,000-square-foot facility, install infrastructure and relocate equipment.
The facility improvements and two-block move cost about $1.4 million, and the building, which has three full-size loading docks, was $3 million. In June, Jacobson sold its 13,400-square-foot building for $1.2 million.
The Long Beach, Calif., municipal code for rehabilitating an older building pushed completion of renovations months later than originally planned, President Jeff Jacobson said in a phone interview. He said Long Beach plans to issue the final occupancy permit in February.
For injection molding, ``we replaced three older machines and brought in three newer Engels of 150-300 tons,'' he said. Now, the firm operates 10 presses with clamping forces of 28-500 tons.
For rotational molding, the firm installed two recently acquired machines in the new location and continues, for now, to operate four machines in leased space.
``By summer, we will be looking for a seventh [rotomolding machine],'' Jacobson said.
The firm will install any incoming rotomolding equipment at the new site and, eventually, phase out use of the 12,000-square-foot leased location.
Jacobson Plastics employs 85 and had 2006 sales of $6 million, including $3 million from rotomolding, $1.8 million from injection molding and $1.2 million from automotive aftermarket accessories and products.
Jacobson Plastics started the aftermarket business in 2003 under the Vertically Driven Products brand. The VDP catalog, mail-order and retail business may exceed $1.8 million in sales this year, Jacobson projected. The firm internally manufactures nearly one-half of the VDP line.
Many of the products serve the market for all-terrain vehicles, including the popular Rhino line from Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. ``We have a big addition of mostly rotomolded products for the ATV market,'' Jacobson said.
For the Rhino ATV, Jacobson Plastics rotomolds a six-speaker sound bar for aftermarket installation between the roll bars and also produces a floor console, sport bars and tonneau cover.
Jacobson sees the building industry bouncing back. The injection molding side of his business felt last year's slowdown in residential construction, but now ``orders are coming back stronger.''
