Kickstart: Compounding growth in Kentucky

Construction of Washington Penn Plastics Co. Inc.'s $105 million expansion in Kentucky has started, with Gov. Andy Beshear on hand to mark the launch.

Washington Penn announced plans for the polypropylene and polyethylene compounding plant in Winchester in September 2023. At that time, Washington Penn President Will Torpey told Plastics News' Frank Esposito the facility would cover about 200,000 square feet.

At the April 11 groundbreaking event, the company said it will encompass nearly 250,000 square feet on 70 acres. The extra land will provide space for future growth and solar power panels, Beshear's office noted in a news release.

Washington Penn expects to create 88 full-time jobs and wrap up construction in 2025.

The project will not affect Washington Penn's current plant in Frankfort, about 30 miles from Winchester.

Based in Washington, Pa., the compounder has other facilities in Lafayette, Ga.; Auburn Hills, Mich.; and Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

ALPS Inspection just won its place at the top of the Plastics News Best Places to Work in the plastics industry among supplier companies for 2024. (You can find a profile of the Harrison, Ohio-based company and links to other top firms here. I'll have more on that later.)

But it's not stopping there.

ALPS and Cincinnati Test Systems just kicked off a program to help its employees boost their recycling efforts at home.

The Hefty ReNew program for hard-to-recycle plastics typically is rolled out to individual communities. Working with Rumpke Waste & Recycling, ALPS is providing collection sites for the material at its facility. Employees were provided with a recycling kit, including orange ReNew bags, they can take home for plastics collection.

"Through this program, we are providing our employees with the tools they need to make a positive impact on the environment," said Jill Shearer, general manager of ALPS Inspection, in a news release.

As I mentioned above, this week's print issue of Plastics News profiles the six top processors and 10 top suppliers in the plastics industry deemed the Best Places to Work in the plastics industry.

What does it take to make it on that list? As Jordan Vitick, PN's special projects editor, writes, PN works with an outside group, Workforce Research Group. That agency goes beyond noting what employers report. Employee feedback surveys are worth 80 percent of the final score.

Want more? Our sister paper, Rubber News, also just named its top places to work in the rubber industry.