Continued business growth at Accredo Packaging Inc. means yet another building expansion for the Texas-based flexible packaging maker.
The Sugar Land, Texas-based company is spending $10 million to create more office space and parking in a project that just broke ground.
“Around half of our 83,000-square-foot expansion is for a new employee parking garage on the first floor, with the second floor slated for office space. We are not consolidating from other locations; this is driven by growth in our employee base over time. Our current office is bursting at the seams,” Mandy Craig, head of marketing and sustainability for Accredo, said in an email interview.
Accredo plans to add at least 30 new jobs in conjunction with the new construction that also will retain 535 existing positions. The new jobs, created within three years of project completion, will include customer service, sales and accounting positions, Craig said.
This latest work is the fourth expansion for the Accredo location since opening in 2009, the company said, and it is being designed by KDW of Houston. KDW also managed the design and construction of the company’s initial building in Sugar Land as well as three previous expansions.
Once completed, the latest work will bring Accredo’s overall footprint to nearly 650,000 square feet on a 32-acre parcel, including room for office, manufacturing and warehouse space.
“In 2009, when we began operations, consumer requirements and demands for sustainable packaging were in their infancy,” Craig said. “We have built our entire operation around sustainability from the ground up. As the pace of change required in the marketplace has accelerated, we continue to bring high-quality products that the consumer desires.”
The company’s flexible packaging served a variety of grocery segments, including snack foods, confectionery, frozen foods and pet treats. The firm also makes overwraps for paper towels and tissue and shrink film for bundling beverages, including water bottles.
“Accredo Packaging is not only dedicated to providing sustainable packaging solutions for our customers but also to creating sustainable, mission-oriented jobs for members of the broader Sugar Land community,” CEO Hank Nguyen said in a statement.
Accredo has more than doubled employment in Sugar Land since 2017.
“The largest increases we have seen in our employment base are on the manufacturing side. Not only have we added several printing presses, pouch lines and additional extrusion capability in our Sugar Land, Texas, facility since 2017, we also became a global company with the commissioning of our plant in Vietnam,” Craig said in her email response.
Other job growth has come in sales, accounting, finance and graphic design, she said.
The company, in 2018, revealed plans to add 200,000 square feet of space to bring the company’s campus to 550,000 square feet, the company said at the time. Accredo also revealed the construction of a new 238,000-square-foot manufacturing site in Binh Duong Province near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At the time, the company said the value of both projects was $100 million.
Craig said a focus on sustainable business practices has been a key driver in the company’s growth.
“Our sustainable products, combined with the value proposition of our sustainable processes, is what we attribute to our tremendous growth and success in the marketplace so far,” she said.
Accredo, which uses renewable wind power, expects expansion to continue in the years ahead, Craig said.