Gov. Bobby Jindal and Ronpak owner Ron Sedley have announced that Ronpak will relocate its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Louisiana and create 100 additional new jobs beyond the 175 manufacturing positions announced last year for Ronpak’s new Shreveport manufacturing center.
The 155,000-square-foot manufacturing center at The Port of Caddo-Bossier also will serve as Ronpak Inc. headquarters by the end of 2013. The 100 additional new jobs include 20 new headquarters jobs and 80 new manufacturing jobs.
By 2018, Ronpak will employ 275 people in Shreveport with an average annual salary of more than $40,500, plus benefits. Those direct jobs also will result in 783 new indirect jobs, Lousiana Economic Development (LED) estimates, leading to a total of more than 1,000 new jobs.
Gov. Jindal said, “Ronpak is upping their investment in Louisiana because of our state’s strong business climate, and most importantly, because we have the best workers in the world. Ronpak’s decision to relocate their headquarters and add new manufacturing jobs is proof that our work to foster a strong business climate where companies can thrive is paying off. [This] announcement is yet another example of our strong commitment to attracting companies that want to invest in Louisiana and create opportunities for our people to stay here at home and pursue their dreams.”
In July 2011, Gov. Jindal and Ronpak announced that the company would build a $16.8 million paper goods manufacturing plant in Shreveport. The company cited support and incentives from state and regional economic partners, as well as the quality workforce available in Shreveport, as major reasons for selecting Shreveport. The support of the state, Louisiana’s quality workforce and the company’s experience during their initial six months in the state helped convince Ronpak to relocate its headquarters.
“When we started up in our temporary facility in the port, I had only one thing on my mind – making sure we took care of the needs of one of our most-valued customers,” said Sedley, the Ronpak owner. “We did that in a very short period of time. Only with the help of all the people of Louisiana could we have done this. Louisiana is a state that wants to help business succeed.”
Following the opening of its new manufacturing center and headquarters, Ronpak will employ 132 in Shreveport by the end of 2013. The company will add approximately 30 new direct employees in each of the five following years, reaching employment of 275 by 2018. The state began working with Ronpak in late 2010, convincing the company that Louisiana offered a better business climate and workforce advantage over several competing states. The state offered a headquarters incentive package during initial negotiations, and Ronpak later accepted the offer to move its headquarters from New Jersey and agreed to expand its job commitment to the manufacturing operations.
To secure the manufacturing expansion and headquarters relocation, the state is providing Ronpak a performance-based grant of $2.25 million to offset costs of equipment for the manufacturing center, payable in two annual installments in 2016 and 2017. The state also will provide a performance-based grant of $900,000 to offset leasing or financing costs related to the headquarters, payable in ten annual installments, beginning in 2013.
Ronpak also will receive the services of LED FastStart™, the nation’s top-rated workforce development program, and the company is expected to utilize Louisiana’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
“North Louisiana Economic Partnership and its partners have worked closely with Ronpak, first when it decided to locate at the Port of Caddo-Bossier and now as the company moves its corporate headquarters to North Louisiana,” NLEP Chairman Todd Perry said. “The collaboration between state, regional, and local economic development partners has been a winning formula in recruiting new companies and convincing them to expand in our region.”
