Huhtamaki of Finland, a manufacturer of consumer and specialty packaging and a unit of Huhtamaki Oyj, announced on Feb. 4 the purchase of half of the 1.8 million-square-foot facility, known as the Ford Batavia Transmission plant. The company will open a state-of-the-art converting facility and distribution center at the location.
The $60 million investment will create 327 new jobs over the next three years.
“Today’s announcement caps an exciting 18-month period, in which we completed three acquisitions and added seven production facilities in the U.S to expand our ability to offer customers a broad product line and coast-to-coast coverage from 17 North American plants,” said Clay Dunn, president of Huhtamaki North America.
One reason the company chose the location is that the ‘open-space configuration is ideally suited for world-class capability in productivity and material flow,” said Fred Betzen, vice president of operations with Huhtamaki North America. “This new facility has the space, and infrastructure, to meet growing customer needs for additional products and production volume, and can be expanded over the next several years.”
“We are very pleased that Huhtamaki selected Ohio for this significant investment,” said Kristi Tanner, managing director of JobsOhio. This location also houses the University of Cincinnati’s UC East Campus.
The Batavia plant, located near Cincinnati, will serve customers such as Nestle, Hershey and Starbucks in the foodservice and retail industries, producing paper cups and distributing products made throughout the Huhtamaki network.
Huhtamaki is also the manufacturer of the popular Chinet line of premium disposable tableware.
