Rotational molder Smak Plastics Inc. has opened a second rotomolding factory about 400 miles east of its Vancouver, Wash., home base.
Smak revived a defunct rotational molding operation in Hayden, Idaho. The facility currently employs 20, according to Gynii Abracosa Gilliam, president of Idaho's Economic Development Corp.'s Coeur d'Alene region. Smak intends employment in Hayden to eventually reach 45.
Smak bought a 22,000-square-foot facility with two rotational molding lines, Gilliam said in an email. When the previous business folded, the assets were inherited by the Panhandle Area Council. Officials contacted potential buyers and Smak President Jon Smalley was convinced to revitalize the machinery on site rather than relocate it.
"Considering all the pluses of doing business in Idaho, it just made sense to ask Jon if he would consider expanding here with the existing equipment already in place," said PAC Executive Director Wally Jacobson in a July 5 news release.
Smak's head office plant in Vancouver runs a carousel independent arm rotomolder and two carousel fixed turret rotomolding machines, according to Plastics News data. The machines and Smak's 42 employees there rotomold about 1.3 million pounds of resin a year for diverse customers. Bins, bin liners, pallets, tanks and hoppers are among its products.
"The availability of an existing business with a complete line of operational equipment that matches with our existing business was ideal," Smalley said in a news release. He said the business-friendly environment and government assistance swayed his decision to plant roots in Hayden.
Hayden is about 7 miles north of Coeur d'Alene, the largest city in Idaho's northern Panhandle. The municipality is also about 35 miles east of Spokane, Wash. Smak qualified for Idaho tax reimbursement incentives designed to create jobs.