Updated — Amcor Rigid Plastics is spending tens of millions of dollars to expand a plastic packaging manufacturing site in Ohio.
The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company, a division of global plastics giant Amcor Ltd., said the $40 million investment will just about double both manufacturing and warehouse space in Bellevue.
Amcor has been in Bellevue for 30 years, and the construction will involve 126,000 square feet of new manufacturing space and 85,000 square feet of new warehouse space, the company said.
The facility makes preforms as well as injection and extrusion blow molded containers.
“This is all about our continued investment in the specialty container side of our business, what we call Diversified Products. That is an area of focus for us, and this plant is basically a Diversified Products plant,” said Michael Hodges, director of communications for Amcor Rigid Plastics.
Amcor, because of the company's long and deep history in making beverage containers, views packaging for areas such as food, pharmaceuticals, household care and personal care as diversified products. The category also includes wine, spirits and beer packaging.
“I know everybody calls them something different, but that's what we call them at this point,” Hodges explained.
“During this strong period of growth for our business, we're fortunate to be able to make this substantial investment at our Bellevue site,” said Ann O'Hara, vice president and general manager for Amcor's Diversified Products business unit, in a statement.
O'Hara indicated the site in northwest Ohio is “a strategic geographic location for Amcor” as the area also is home to many of the company's customers in the food, healthcare and consumer segments. The conversion from glass to plastic packaging also is adding to the need for more production capacity, she said in the statement.
Considering the growth experienced by the company's existing customer base in the region, Hodges said it made sense from both a cost and sustainability view to expand in Bellevue.
Work on the expansion already has begun, and Hodges said the company expects to be operating out of the expanded space by this summer.
Exact details regarding job growth and an economic development grant from JobsOhio, a private non-profit job creation organization, are not being revealed at this point, Hodges said. The location currently employs 148 workers.