Plastic Enterprises Co. Inc. recently completed a 108,000-square-foot expansion project, doubling the size of its Lee's Summit, Mo., facility.
The move enables the maker of thin-wall rigid plastic overcaps and containers for frozen dessert, snack, coffee and whipped topping segments to increase its production capacity 25 percent and brings the firm's warehouse to Lee's Summit from Independence, Mo., executives said.
The $10 million expansion, begun in May 2007, will include new robots and molding machines, as well as new heating and air conditioning and other renovations, President Chuck Koester said in an Oct. 1 telephone interview.
Plastic Enterprises has been in Lee's Summit since the early 1990s, when the firm purchased 10 acres. The expansion doubles the facility to 216,000 square feet.
``Plastic Enterprises is happy to reinvest in Lee's Summit,'' Koester said. ``This is a strong community.''
In a Sept. 26 news release, Jim Devine, president and chief executive officer of the Lee's Summit Economic Development Council, praised Koester, whom Devine said was integral in developing the Lee's Summit Gateway Business Alliance, a development board consisting of local firms. ``Chuck had the foresight and vision to create a network of community CEOs, and provide a forum to discuss and address mutual issues,'' Devine said.
Through an employee stock ownership plan, Plastic Enterprises' 200 employees own the firm.