ROCKINGHAM — Pending approval from the N.C. Department of Commerce, Direct Pack, Inc. could receive a grant to help pay about half its renovation costs for its upcoming Richmond County facility.
The Richmond County Board of Commissioners approved the application — and a resolution supporting the application — for a $545,000 community development block grant for building reuse to go toward improvements on the old Trane building on Airport Road during a public hearing at noon Monday.
County Manager Rick Sago said the California-based company plans to spend $1,090,00 on the upgrades.
He added that to be eligible for the grant, the company is only required to provide 38 jobs. However, Direct Pack announced earlier this month that it would bring 94 jobs over the next five years to its new East Coast facility.
This was the second public hearing regarding the grant. Commissioner Ben Moss was not at the meeting, but the rest of the commissioners voted unanimously.
A subsidiary of PMC Global, Direct Pack specializes in thermoformed packaging for agriculture, food service, supermarket chains and food processors.
Its products “span from functional berry containers to innovative salad bowls, all kinds of bakery and deli containers and image-building entrée take-out solutions,” according to Direct Pack’s website.
The company is headquartered in Azuza, California and has operations in other parts of the Sunshine State, including Sun Valley — where it was founded in 2006 — Salinas and Ontario, and also has one in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Direct Pack plans to invest $12.7 million at the Richmond County plant.
This is the fifth economic development announcement and the third new business to make a home in Richmond County this year for a total of 332 new jobs and $46.5 million in capital investment.
Plastek announced in January that it would invest $2.5 million and hire 23 new employees to expand its facility on County Home Road.
The following month, Perdue Foods declared its intent to invest $10.9 million and hire 30 new workers over the next three years at its chicken processing plant in Rockingham.
RSI Home Products held a groundbreaking ceremony in March after announcing the construction of a new 300,000 square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in the Richmond County Industrial Park, with plans to open in September.
Wisconsin-based Red Flint Group announced in April that it would open North Carolina Industrial Sand at a site on Airport Road.
Reach William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.