Consumer packaging company in Hot Springs announces expansion, 150 additional jobs

Hot Springs factory to get new gear, add 150 jobs

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — A company that makes consumer packaging announced Wednesday that it will change out equipment at its Hot Springs factory and hire an additional 150 workers before the end of the year.

London-based Rexam PLC is reorganizing its operation, shutting down about a half-dozen plants and moving work to its other properties. The Hot Springs plant, which now has about 250 workers, will receive equipment from another Rexam factory that will enable it to produce between 12 billion and 18 billion pieces per year, compared to production of about 1 billion pieces per year now.

The plant churns out plastic jars that hold ointments, makeup and hair care products, plus an array of plastic tops for soda bottles.

Rexam received $1.5 million from Gov. Mike Beebe’s Quick Action Closing Fund to help pay for moving the equipment. Rexam also is to receive help with training and an income tax break based on the number of people it hires. The company will further receive a rebate of sales taxes paid on equipment and materials used in the plant upgrade.

Malcolm Harrison, group director of Rexam’s plastic packaging division, said the company intends to eventually expand the Hot Springs plant.

“Its a mix of the right facility, the fact that we’ve got the room to be able to expand and, most importantly, that we’ve got the right people,” Harrison said. “We’re confident we can hire the right people.”

Harrison said Rexam looked at Hot Springs as it was considering which plants to close and that state incentives helped persuade the company to stay.

“I think it is fair to say that the government incentives and our confidence about the capabilities and the training and education of the people were fundamental in deciding this was a facility we can expand,” Harrison said.

Gov. Mike Beebe said retaining the jobs of people already working at the plant was as important as the expansion.

“You always fear for your own people in your own locations” when multinational companies start to look at more efficient ways to do things, Beebe said.

Beebe said the Arkansas Economic Development Commission is in regular contact with major employers and that his office will step in as needed.

Rexam’s plastics division has more than 40 plants and 13,000 workers. Overall, the company has about 100 plants and 23,000 employees worldwide. Rexam gained a presence in Hot Springs when it paid $154 million in 2005 to acquire Hot Springs-based Delta Plastics, which employed 350 people at the time.

Hot Springs is best known as a resort city; Oaklawn Park thoroughbred race track and the Arlington Hotel are among the city’s largest private employers. But the city also relies on manufacturing. For instance, the Alliance Rubber plant has been in operation since 1944, and Triumph Airborne Structures, Inc. maintains a wide variety of aircraft.

Harrison said that if the market develops as Rexam expects, the plant may take advantage of the room it has to grow.

“We’re clearly creating a platform here with a potential for growth,” Harrison said.