By Jim Johnson
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
Published: October 6, 2014 4:14 pm ET
Updated: October 7, 2014 2:02 pm ET

Image By: Plastic Package Inc.
Sacramento, Calif.-based Plastic Package Inc. is opening a second thermoforming plant, in La Porte, Ind.

A California-based packaging company is expanding into the Midwest thanks to phenomenal growth in recent years.

Plastic Package Inc. expects its second facility to be up in running next month in La Porte, Ind., through a $1.3 million project.

The Sacramento, Calif.-based firm has seen significant business increases in recent years, according to marketing coordinator Catalina Aceves.

“It’s very dramatic, the growth that we’ve experienced and we’re really excited about that,” she said. “Forty-three percent growth over the last two years. So it’s pretty significant.”

Plastic Package makes thermoformed packaging for those making bakery goods, confections, cosmetics and electronics. The company also serves school nutrition programs.

The 20,000-square-foot site in La Porte initially will employ about 18 to 20 workers, and the company expects it will take about a year to be running at full capacity with that staff. After that point, Plastic Package will consider further expansion and additional jobs.

“We do have existing clients in that region along with the fact that we did hire a sales representative who is starting to bring on some new accounts,” Aceves said. “We were just looking for somewhere that will allow us to continue to serve those clients as well as the potential new clients.”

The company is seeing growth due to the type of packaging it offers as well as the markets it serves, Aceves said.

Service to Hispanics, including Hispanic foods as well as Hispanic markets, is one particular area of growth the company sees in its future. Customers also are being drawn more and more to the firm’s recycled-content PET packaging.

Plastic Packaging is moving some equipment from Sacramento, where it employs 85, to help start operations in the Midwest. This not only jump-starts the location in Indiana, but also frees up space in the firm’s 50,000-square-foot site on the West Coast.

“Our facility in California will continue as a significant factor in our strategic growth,” CEO Mike Miller said in a statement. “The addition of the new facility will continue to enhance our ability to support current customers and grow in the Midwest.”

Plastic Package dates to 1976 and is owned by father-and-daughter team Jim and Jennifer Kaye.

The company’s new Midwest location most recently was a machine shop and before that was used by Whirlpool Corp., Aceves said.

La Porte, in Northern Indiana, is about 70 miles east of Chicago and 27 miles west of South Bend, Ind.

Plastic Package already has started work remodeling the building and expects equipment to be shipped to the site toward the end of October. Production is expected to begin in early-to-mid November, Aceves said.