The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) approved an $80,000 grant award to Huhtamaki, Inc.
The money will help repair two on-site grade crossings at the company’s facility in New Vienna, Ohio.
Huhtamaki plans to invest $9 million in construction, machinery, equipment and related expenses. ORDC grant funds will assist in making necessary repairs to the rail infrastructure at the project site.
As a result of this assistance, the company plans to create 30 new jobs and retaining 226 existing jobs in New Vienna, Ohio.
“This grant from ORDC will allow Huhtamaki in New Vienna Ohio to continue to provide good jobs to a local community,” Mike Wadsworth, plant manager for Huhtamaki, said in a news release.
“We depend on the rail system to deliver us with plastic resin to make our Consumer Goods and Retail products which have been deemed essential during these trying times and has kept our employees working,” Wadsworth added. “We value the partnership that we have.”
Huhtamaki, a global food packaging specialist headquartered in Espoo, Finland, produces paper and plastic disposable tableware, such as cups, plates and containers for quick service restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores, caterers and vending operators. The company provides coated paper cups for fast food chains such as Burger King and flexible packaging and labels for food and drink, pet food, pharmaceuticals, household and hygiene brands.
Huhtamaki also makes egg cartons and trays, fruit trays and cup carriers.
As “every railroad in Ohio knows, at-grade crossings are expensive to maintain,” Matthew Dietrich, executive director of the ORDC, said in a news release.
“That is especially true in a situation like this one where the primary traffic over the crossings is trucks,” Dietrich added. “ORDC is happy that we can help Huhtamaki make the necessary repairs that will further their efforts for additional investment and job creation in Ohio.”
