Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 04, 2017 01:00 AM

Sterilite may invest $73 million in massive Iowa plant

Michael Lauzon
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Sterilite Corp.
    Sterilite Corp. makes a range of housewares including hampers, waste baskets and storage containers.

    Updated with comments from company executives: Plastics housewares company Sterilite Corp. is proposing to build a large manufacturing and distribution center in Davenport, Iowa.

    The firm is eyeing a 2.5 million-square-foot building that would cost about $73 million for the building and land purchase. The project would create 500 jobs within five years with initial employment pegged at 150.

    Davenport's city council plans to vote on tax incentives for the project this week. And other local and state agencies also need to sign off on the incentives. City officials had been studying the proposal for about six months.

    Peter Stone, a Sterilite executive and grandson of the firm's founder, told a Jan. 4 council meeting that the Midwest location, local infrastructure and an educated workforce were among the attractions of Davenport. Also key was that land in the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center was ready for development.

    “Having a shovel-ready site that was all set up and ready to hit the ground running should it be the right fit was very helpful and not something we saw in [every other] state,” Stone said.

    Several incentive programs are being tapped for Sterilite's Iowa project, according to local news reports. They include a $3 million forgiveable loan, a $1.8-million rail spur and other infrastructure improvements worth $4.6 million, and partial rebate of property taxes worth about $8.3 million.

    Stone touted his company's reliance on U.S production as a marketing advantage.

    “Sterilite is an American-made company,” he said. “Every product made by Sterilite is made here in the United States.”

    Sterilite is the largest plastics housewares company in North America. Headquartered in Townsend, Mass., the firm also has operations in Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. It was founded in 1939 by Saul and Edward Stone and Earl Tupper, originally to make heels for women's shoes. Sterilite entered plastic housewares in the 1960s.

    Sterilite's most recently built plants are in Ennis, Texas, and Clinton, S.C.

    Ennis was Sterilite's most recent expansion, a $17 million warehouse and distribution center added to its existing 2.1-million-square-foot production plant. Finishing touches are now being made on the addition, according to HWH Group of Paris, Texas, the company that built the Ennis plant and helped in site location. Forty new jobs there qualify Sterilite for a city tax abatement, economic development grant support and a $750,000 grant from the Texas Capital Fund.

    In Clinton, Sterilite built a 2.4-million-square-foot production plant and distribution facility in 2004. That operation represented an investment of about $65 million.

    Sterilite's Massillon, Ohio, injection molding plant was built in 1996. The 476,000-square-foot plant joined then-existing Sterilite molding operations in Townsend; Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and Birmingham, Ala.

    Sterilite has grown in a crowded housewares market by emphasizing quality, manufacturing efficiency and sharp pricing strategies. By 2014, its employment reached about 2,000, according to government records.

    The housewares market is so crowded that one of the early pioneers, Newell Brands Inc., is shopping for a buyer of its food container business. Newell's strategy in the container market is shifting to acquisition of a modern, highly automated molding plant recently built by Sistema Plastics in Auckland, New Zealand.

    Sterilite's Davenport plant will be the city's largest building when it opens in early 2018. The construction site is a 160-acre plot.

    “Five hundred new jobs in the community is always impactful,” Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch said in a Jan. 3 media event. He indicated Davenport's skilled workforce is a key component in Sterilite's deliberations. Construction of the new factory is in line with the area governments' urban renewal efforts. About 400 of the new Sterilite jobs would pay between $12 to $16 per hour, with most of the rest paying about $18.75 per hour or more.

    Davenport's population of about 100,000 makes it the third largest city in Iowa. It is located about halfway between Chicago and Des Moines, Iowa. Manufacturing is its major employer, with more than 7,600 jobs. The city touts its fast-growing high-tech sector. Agricultural equipment icon Deere & Co. is a major employer.

    Sterilite also made a big impact in its hometown several years ago. In 2009 the firm's chairman, Albert Stone, financed a large library and community center in Townsend that cost as much as $20 million.

    Plastics News estimated Sterilite's injection molding sales at $190 million.

    Davenport officials announce the planned Sterilite plant.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Patio doors get a boost with new production, designs
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Plan to extend chemical recycling in Illinois hits roadblock
    2
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    3
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    4
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    5
    Trinseo: Equipment failure blamed for latex emulsion leak
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified