South Has Its Own
Plastics Tradition

Like their automotive cousins, plastics processors have found the American South to their liking.
        Mississippi, known for its polymer-friendly business environment and higher education partnerships, has welcomed several projects so far in 2003. Desert Plastics, based in Phoenix, Ariz., will invest $1.5 million in a film and bag manufacturing plant in Summit that will employ 25.
        Scott Knowles, Desert Plastics vice president, says it is "very rare" to encounter such an inviting blend of government and work force commitment.
        In Hattiesburg, known as "Hub City" for a reason, Wisconsin-based Western Container and automotive plastics supplier Dickten & Masch have both announced expansions. The city's industrial park still boasts several hundred acres waiting to be developed, and plastics is a prime target for filling that space.
        The Mississippi Technology Alliance and the Mississippi Development Authority are now partnering to reinforce industry clusters like plastics/polymers, through their combined efforts in work force development, data collection and addressing industry-specific business development issues.
        For those who don't think retail has some pull in corporate real estate circles, two recent plastics company locations in Georgia beg to differ. Within months, Massachusetts-based Aero Plastics and Illinois-based Newell Rubbermaid announced major new locations in Georgia, and both cited the proximity to major client Home Depot, also based in Atlanta, as a strong persuader.
        Newell Rubbermaid is moving its headquarters from Freeport, Ill., picking Atlanta over Baltimore, Dallas and Chicago, among others, after an 18-month search. Discussions were held with 10 different states and metros.
        "Atlanta won in a very competitive process with its projected growth, living environment, climate, location and education opportunities," says CEO Joseph Galli, Jr.
        Besides immediately bringing 60 high-level jobs when it opens in late 2004, the project could eventually employ as many as 1,000. That includes staff for CEO Joseph Galli, Jr.'s prized leadership program, Newell Rubbermaid University.
        "We're going to develop from scratch a corporate training center that will eventually bring thousands to Atlanta," Galli explained. "We believe this new facility will play an important role in preparing our executive team and future company leaders to drive our business to its fullest potential."
        Key to the deal was around $1 million ponied up by the state, plus a $2,500-per-job headquarters relocation tax credit. The company is still looking at either leasing an existing facility or constructing its own.
        In Mooresville, N.C., Polar Plastics is now leasing a facility it used to own. And by way of some creative financing, it is expanding its capabilities. Through a sale-leaseback with investment firm W.P. Carey's Corporate Property Associates 15 REIT, the company has sold its 300,000-sq.-ft. (27,870-sq.-m.) facility for $15.6 million, and will lease it back under a 20-year triple net lease with two 10-year renewal options. After considering several financing alternatives, says Polar Plastics president and CEO George W. Brown III, "Converting our real estate into working capital will enable us to use this financing to further improve our position in the plastic injected molding industry."