McNeely Plastic Products Inc. is expanding its extrusion and converting abilities at two locations, its existing plant in Clinton, Miss., and a new factory 35 miles away in Hazlehurst, Miss.
President and Chief Operating Officer Greg McNeely said the company has been doing both extrusion and converting in Clinton, but in the process of expanding its extrusion capabilities, “we just ran out of space, so we had to look for a second site to move the converting department.”
After a year-long search, McNeely settled on a 59,000-square-foot building in Hazlehurst. Copiah County and the Mississippi Development Authority helped with funding — the county is leasing the building to McNeely in exchange for an agreement that the company will add 25 jobs.
McNeely said the company's investment “will exceed $10 million.” He said the Clinton expansion will make room for four new extruders. They company already has ordered a five-layer Windmoeller & Hoelscher blown film line that should be up and running by January. It will be the company's eighth extrusion line.
The company also is adding a Hudson Sharp machine for making recloseable bags in Hazlehurst.
“The growth in capacity is in response to the growth in our existing business, but also in developing new markets. A big part is in food, but a significant part is still non-food packaging,” McNeely said.
Much of the business is in the Southeast U.S., but the company also supplies the rest of the country, Mexico and Canada. McNeely extrudes film and bags and does printing and laminating. It joined Sigma Plastics Group in 2010.
Customers include food, dairy, beverages, wood, chemical, industrial and lawn and garden.
“We've grown tremendously in the last six years. We have more than tripled in size,” McNeely said.
The McNeely operations also include the former Tara Plastics Corp. of Forest Park, Ga., which it acquired in 2015.