American Packaging Corp. plans to open a major new manufacturing site in Cedar City, Utah.
Columbus, Wis.-based APC broke ground on the 275,000-square-foot facility in February and expects it to be fully operational in June 2023. The new plant will employ 135.
The $100 million facility will include flexographic printing presses, laminating, preformed pouching and finishing equipment. It's the firm's first site in the Western U.S. Officials said in a news release that Cedar City will serve as a strategic logistical location for both trucking and rail, providing access to raw materials, as well as shipping.
"This is a great opportunity for APC to continue our growth strategy in current and new markets and attract new business opportunities," APC President Jeff Koch said. "It's an exciting time for APC and for our employees as we expand and diversify our customer base, which in return allows us to reinvest in all of our facilities nationwide."
APC executive vice president Ray Graham added that the Cedar City location "will further enhance APC's support to our current customers with operations in the western half of the U.S. by providing a production option closer to our customers' operations with shorter delivery requirements."
The facility also will include world-class print media technologies to support customers' packaging needs and deliver final products "that distinctly stand out on the shelf," officials added. The Cedar City project is the first of three planned phases.
Utah state officials first announced the APC project for Cedar City in July 2021. The state is providing a tax credit of up to $661,260, as well as a grant of up to $75,000 for infrastructure-related expenses. APC can also earn up to 25 percent of the new state taxes it will pay over the 10-year life of the agreement through economic development tax increment finance tax credits.
APC, founded in 1902, makes flexible packaging for food, personal care, medical, pharmaceutical and industrial products customers in the U.S. and Canada. The firm employs 1,200 and has plants in Rochester and Churchville, N.Y.; DeForest and Columbus, Wis.; and Story City, Iowa.