American Packaging Corporation in Story City has broken ground on its $44.3 million dollar expansion that will create an additional 94 new jobs. The company, which began operations in Story City in 1989, has been one of the community’s major employers, as well as a prominent economic anchor and community partner for many years. The ground breaking ceremony was held Tuesday, August 11, 2015. Construction of the new expansion is expected to be completed by September 2016.

American Packaging partnered with Iowa OSHA Consultation and Master Builders of Iowa by enrolling in a new safety program called WORKSAFE. The program is designed to assist construction projects to be safety proactive. Goals of the program are to encourage jobsite planning surveys to prevent hazards, engage stakeholders in safe work behavior and formalized safety training. The WORKSAFE program is a first of its kind in the nation designed to promote and recognize best practices in jobsite safety preplanning, training and consultation. APC’s Safety Coordinator and the management team have committed to this process early on and feel confident safety will remain a strong focus throughout the project with employees and contractors.

“The WORKSAFE program will assist in ensuring all workers remain safe and that our employees and assets are protected while construction is going on,” said Tom Ringelstetter, Corp. HSE Director for American Packaging Corporation.

The Story City location has been an OSHA VPP STAR Worksite since 2009. STAR status is the highest VPP designation awarded by OSHA and indicates a facility has achieved injury and illness rates below its industry national average, and demonstrated to OSHA that its safety and health management systems are exemplary. STAR participants commit to a process of continuous safety improvements that will lead to an even safer work environment.

American Packaging Corporation is a packaging solution focused company that is innovative, quality driven and financially strong. The company is a privately held converter specializing in 10-color High Definition Flexographic printing, 10-color Rotogravure printing, multi-ply Extrusion, Co-Extrusion and Adhesive lamination of film, paper and foil.

The company has three non-union manufacturing Centers of Converting Excellence and a Packaging Innovation Center to effectively support several industries including dry foods, seasoning and mixes, coffee and tea, refrigerated dairy and fresh produce, frozen products, confectionary, medical, personal care, nutraceutical, hard to hold products, liquids, and other specialty items.