November 27, 2018
American Containers, Inc., headquartered in Plymouth, has announced their third expansion in four years. American Containers, a leader in the corrugated packaging industry, plans to invest nearly $1.2 million in equipment to improve production capabilities and maintain their position as a valued Plymouth manufacturer.
The expansion is supported by a seven-year, phase-in, personal property tax abatement, which was approved by the Plymouth Common Council at a public hearing yesterday evening. This hearing was the second step in the tax abatement process, the first of which took place on November 13th when the Council declared the location as an economic revitalization area.
Mike Isban, President of American Container, states, “American Containers is a family-owned and operated business that has proudly been part of the Plymouth community for 53 years. We are pleased to once again grow our Plymouth headquarters thanks to the continued support of the Plymouth Common Council.”
American Containers began in Plymouth in 1965 and has since grown to three plants nation-wide. In 2017, the company invested over $500,000 on new equipment and building improvements. This most recent expansion will increase efficiency and profits which will aid in the retention 61 current employees and facilitate the creation of two new full-time positions.
The expansion consists of two projects. The first is renovating a piece of machinery that will assist with their small box food service production. The company’s current equipment produces 90 units per minute and the new machine will make 350 units per minute. This equipment is currently being retrofitted and will be installed in January at nearly one-third the cost of a new machine.
The second project is a new automated assembly process to expand corrugated honeycomb products, created and developed by American Containers. This equipment will assist workers by reducing physical demand. This automated machinery will allow output to quintuple from one unit per minute to five.