American Packaging Corp. celebrates new $100M manufacturing facility in Cedar City

Written by Jeff Richards
August 5, 2023

CEDAR CITY — American Packaging Corporation celebrated the opening of its new $100 million, 275,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Cedar City on Tuesday.

Company officials line up to cut the ribbon on American Packaging Corporation’s new manufacturing facility in Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 1, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Dozens of people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, including elected officials and community leaders, many of whom stayed afterward for guided tours of the facility.

“We appreciate the opportunity to be part of your community and to have you part of our community,” Cedar City Mayor Garth Green said during his remarks. “We wish you tremendous success and believe that you will have that in every way. These folks really know how to get things done. And they will.”

According to company officials, American Packaging has already hired 35 new team members for the Cedar City facility and expects that number to grow to 75 by the end of 2023. Cedar City’s plant will be managed by Robert Jamison, who transferred from the company’s Story City, Iowa facility.

Although a pre-event news release indicated that the facility is expected to bring more than 135 high-paying jobs to the Cedar City area over the next several years, company officials said on Tuesday that number is a conservatively low estimate.

Company CEO and board co-chairman Peter Schottland thanks Cedar City Mayor Garth Green during ribbon-cutting ceremony for American Packaging Corporation’s new manufacturing facility in Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 1, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“There is no reason why the employment of this plant is not 300 or 400 people down the road five years,” said Peter Schottland, the company’s CEO and co-chairman of the board.

“We’re incredibly excited. And again, this is just the beginning,” said company president Jeff Koch, who noted that the company eventually plans to expand Cedar City’s 275,000-square-foot facility to 500,000 square feet.  

Koch noted that the Cedar City plant is the company’s sixth manufacturing plant and the first in the western United States. American Packaging also operates two “Flexographic Centers of Excellence” in New York, two in Wisconsin and one in Iowa, he noted.

Koch explained how the company came to choose Cedar City for its first western location.

“We serve a variety of markets,” Koch said, noting that the company has 225 customers across several industries, including packaging for health care products, dog food, coffee and assorted other food products.

“So, we’re doing a lot of different things for a lot of different people,” he said. “But when we decided that it was time for us to make our next move, and the evaluation of where that next move was going to be we said we’re shipping over $100 million west of the Rocky Mountains and we have no manufacturing presence west of the Rockies.”

As the company looked to expand to the West, Koch said several criteria were considered.

“First of all, we said we’re going to be west of the Rockies. We needed to have a 40-acre parcel. We wanted to have rail access. We had to have a community that was going to be business friendly. We needed to make sure that there was an adequate pool of candidates that would work in our facility. And then most importantly, we wanted to make sure it was a culture that aligned with American Packaging, with our values, with our vision.”

Joe Pintarro, American Packaging Corporation’s vice president of operations, gives a tour of the company’s new manufacturing facility in Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 1, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Agreed Schottland: “It was about culture, culture, culture … family, family family.”

“We wanted a place where we would feel like we could grow ourselves here and make families part of our culture … people who want to have a career with us, not a job,” Schottland added. “So we’re thrilled to be here as part of that mission.”

Schottland also said the company’s diversified customer base positions it well for future growth.

“Our largest customer is 7% of our sales,” he said, adding, “We’re competing in 15 different markets and we’re growing in 15 different markets.”

Inside the plant on Tuesday, the high-tech presses and other machines were already humming as they printed plastic packages designed to contain various different products, including french fries, salads and chocolate chips.

According to the company news release, “The strategically positioned Cedar City manufacturing facility reflects APC’s commitment to growth and investing in world-class print and packaging technologies to support customers’ unique flexible packaging needs.”

Danny Stewart, economic development director for Cedar City and Iron County, also expressed his excitement as he welcomed American Packaging Corporation to Southern Utah. 

“We look forward to a long, prosperous partnership that brings new investment and jobs to our community, tremendous success to APC, and continuing cooperation long into the future,” Stewart said, adding, “American Packaging is a perfect fit for Cedar City, bringing a family and community-focused culture that matches values and priorities.” 

American Packaging’s Cedar City facility is located at 1211 N. 5300 West, within the Port 15 inland port. For more information about the company, including career opportunities, visit its website.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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