MANSFIELD – A packaging product and equipment manufacturer in Mansfield intends to bring 28 new, full-time jobs with a total payroll of $1.3 million, according to the city’s economic development director Tim Bowersock.
Since opening in 2001, Skybox Packaging has grown three times its initial size. According to Bowersock’s announcement Tuesday night, during an economic development conference before the city council meeting, that trend will continue.
“Out there, it seems the more they built, the more they need to build,” Bowersock said. “So this is not their first expansion.”
Skybox intends to add an additional 88,000 square-feet to its already more than 100,000 square-foot facility at 1275 Pollock Pkwy. There will also be internal renovations.
The project is a $3.3 million investment in the building expansion. An additional $2 million will be invested for machinery and equipment and $1 million for inventory.
Skybox expects to bring 28 jobs to Mansfield through this expansion. These jobs, Bowersock estimated, will have an average salary of $34,000.
The company proposes to hire management, supervisors, engineers and production employees.
Though not the company’s first expansion, it is the first under new ownership. In Sept. 2015 Richland Source reported the Atlantic Packaging Products Ltd. (“Atlantic”), a Canadian manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products, acquired Skybox.
“This is a very good sign for their facility and their operation,” Bowersock said.
He cited customer demand as the reason for the expansion.
“They’ve been really pushing the seams of their building,” Bowersock said. “They actually wanted to do this over a year ago, took a year to get their corporate approval and get the plan itself developed fully.”
In support of the expansion project, Mansfield City Council approved a job creation tax credit agreement. The agreement includes a 50 percent tax credit for six years that matches a credit from the state. As part of the agreement, Skybox must create the 28 new jobs within three years and maintain them for the remaining three years of the tax credit. Furthermore, Skybox must maintain operations in the City of Mansfield for at least 12 years.
Council also passed legislation allowing an enterprise zone agreement, which provides tax incentives for the expansion, and an enterprise zone compensation agreement that will compensate Madison School District.
Bowersock estimates the school district will receive 30 percent of the abatement taxes.
