Company to move corrugated plant to Lebanon

A packaging company with Cincinnati-area operations has purchased a vacated plant in Lebanon’s southern industrial park, a move that could bring more than 100 jobs to the city.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. said it has acquired the 269,000-square-foot plant and 28 acres of land at 760 Kingsview Drive. The plant will replace the company’s current facilities at 7660 School Road in Sycamore Twp., Hamilton County.

The need for an improved and expanded manufacturing facility stems from the company’s growing sales, Green Bay officials said.

The plant is the former site of Quad/Graphics and World Color Press, which closed its Lebanon operations at the end of 2010.

Plans are to relocate to Warren County over the first quarter, Green Bay officials said.

“The new plant will manufacture corrugated shipping containers in a variety of sizes and will serve businesses in the southern (two-thirds) of Ohio, southern Indiana, and northern Kentucky,” said Wayne Petersen, vice president and general manager of the packaging company, in a statement with the release.

The company expects to create 89 jobs with an annual taxable payroll of approximately $3.56 million, said Jason Millard, Lebanon’s economic development director. The company anticipates creating 22 additional jobs in the next three years, with a payroll climbing to more than $5 million annually.

According to the Warren County auditor’s record, the property’s sale to Green Bay Packaging has not been completed.

The facility requires $250,000 in interior renovations, Millard said. Lebanon’s city council is discussing offering the company a $50,000 forgivable loan.

According to the terms of the loan, GBP must maintain a minimum annual taxable payroll during each of the next five years. In return, Lebanon will forgive 20 percent of the loan principal and interest for each of the five years. City officials would also waive up to $1,000 in applicable permit fees as well as offer a credit on the electric tax based on the size of the company’s payroll. City council will discuss the loan and credit at its next meeting Wednesday.

If the city moves forward with the loan program and other waivers, it will invest approximately $110,000 in the project and could receive a revenue of approximately $415,000 over the next seven years, Millard said.

According to the company’s website, Green Bay Packaging has 30 facilities in the U.S. and Mexico and was founded in 1933.

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