Garlock Printing and Converting Corp. plans to spend about $15 million to establish a satellite operation in Reno, Nev.
“We have a lot business in the West and in California,” said Garlock Printing President Philip Ceryanek in a March 27 phone interview.
Garlock Printing chose Nevada for its first western plant because of state support and a business-friendly climate, added Garlock Printing Chief Financial Officer Kevin King.
The private company is in early commissioning stages of a Windmoeller & Hoelscher flexographic printing line and will begin commercial production when the line is proved out. By June, Garlock Printing also should have in operation rewinding, laminating, pouch and bag and laser perforation equipment in Reno. Within a year the firm will install a second printing line there.
Garlock Printing's initial investment includes $2.3 million to purchase an existing 50,000-square-foot facility that formerly was a Coors Brewing Co. warehouse. Initial equipment expenses will exceed $10 million, including its second printing line. It has budgeted another few million dollars to add 60,000 square feet of warehouse and production space within a year. Down the road, the company plans to install a third printing line at a cost of another few million dollars.
The Gardner, Mass., firm initially will employ 17 in Reno and the roster should grow to 175 over the next five years.
Garlock Printing was founded in 1987. It prints, laminates and converts films made of PET, polypropylene, polyethylene and nylon as well as paper substrates. It runs nine flexographic printing presses in Massachusetts and employs about 320 there. Reno's capabilities will mirror what it does in Massachusetts: film printing, slitting, rewinding, laminating, laser perforation and bag and pouch production. It purchases film for printing and converting.
The recently installed W&H Novoflex CM10 flexographic press has a 67-inch working width. It can accommodate large repeat lengths and run at up to 2,000 feet per minute. It is the first W&H press installed by Garlock Printing, which runs nine flexographic presses in Massachusetts.
Garlock Printing will be unusual in its claim to have production bases at each end of the United States. This will help cut lead times and ensure consistent quality in western and eastern markets. The firm's customers are in fresh produce, snack food, frozen meat and produce, food service, and industrial markets. Flexible packaging has been its strongest sector but officials declined to provide sales figures.
Ceryanek said Reno's opening won't affect the company's production footprint in Massachusetts. It now runs four plants in its Gardner campus and a fifth nearby with total area of 250,000 square feet.
The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada announced the project March 24. Garlock Printing CEO Peter Garlock said in a news release that the area's skilled workforce was a factor in the decision to locate in the region.
