MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV) recently opened its state-of-the-art pilot plant in Henrico County, Va., last week. The plant is part of MWV’s Center for Packaging Innovation, which the company moved to its corporate headquarters in Richmond, Va., from Raleigh, N.C. in 2010.

MWV’s Center for Packaging Innovation develops and tests new products and technologies as part of the company’s effort to find creative packaging solutions for customers across the globe. The 48,000-square-foot plant will allow the company to increase its pre-commercialization product testing. 

With five new labs MWV’s capabilities include wood fiber development, polymer compounding, metallurgy and corrosion analysis, coatings and materials testing, form/fill/seal machines, die-cutting, distribution and supply chain testing, equipment prototyping, injection molding and multi-layer extrusion and lamination, to name just a few.

The pilot plant is the latest in a series of investments this Fortune 500 company has made in the Commonwealth. MWV invested $80 million to move its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to Richmond, Va., in 2006, creating 400 new jobs. The company also announced an investment of $285 million in June 2011 to construct a new, state-of-the-art biomass boiler at its Covington Mill in Alleghany County, Va.  MWV has been a Covington employer since 1899.

These investments illustrate MWV’s confidence in Virginia’s talent and infrastructure to support innovative projects across the Commonwealth. According to MWV Chairman and CEO John A. Luke, Jr., “Virginia is not only our corporate home; it is a major base of operations and gateway for our business around the world.”

To learn why companies continue to invest in the Commonwealth and locate their headquarters in Virginia’s pro-business environment, click here.

While it’s always exciting when a new company opens its first operation in the Commonwealth, VEDP is just as enthusiastic when a long-standing Virginia company chooses to expand its operations here. That’s just what happened when Honeywell announced its plans to expand its Advanced Fibers and Composites (AF&C) operation in Chesterfield County through an investment of $27.5 million, which will create 50 new jobs.

Honeywell began operating in Virginia back in 1928 and this 80-plus year history has resulted in 17 facilities across the Commonwealth that employ 1,800 Virginians. Continued expansion and investment in Virginia confirms the company’s positive experience in the Commonwealth, allowing Virginia to beat out North Carolina and South Carolina for this project.

Honeywell’s AF&C business manufactures the lightest and strongest polyethylene fiber in the world. Its life-saving technology is used in applications to protect military and police officers where lightweight strength is critical. Bullet-resistant vests, breast plates, helmets, combat vehicles and military aircraft are just a few applications for AF&C’s world-class polyethylene fiber.

Virginia’s appeal to the plastics and advanced materials industry spans numerous subsectors including fiber and film manufacturing, blow molding, injection molding, pipe manufacturing, thermoforming and equipment manufacturing. With recent announcements from the likes of DuPont, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Tessy Plastics, O’Sullivan Films and Phoenix Packaging, Virginia has made its mark as an ideal location for plastics and advanced materials companies. To learn more click here.

Virginia is a great place for plastics companies. With Rubbermaid Commercial Products announcing an expansion in December, Tessy Plastic’s January announcement is a strong indicator that injection molding companies are on the rise in the Commonwealth.

Operating in Lynchburg, Va., since 1997, Tessy Plastics plans to invest $4.8 million to expand its current 60,000-square-foot facility by nearly 30,000 square feet. The new space will be used for additional high-technology injection molding, robotics and assembly equipment, primarily serving the company’s growing medical sector. The project will create 60 new jobs, adding to the company’s 143-person Virginia workforce.

Tessy Plastics selected Lynchburg, Va., due to its proximity to the company’s customer base and confidence in the local workforce. “We at Tessy Plastics have an excellent, hardworking and honest workforce. With our great employees and the partnership with the city of Lynchburg and the state of Virginia, I look forward to investing in our future to make us a stronger, more efficient company which will help us stay competitive in a global market,” said Tessy Plastics President Ken Beck.

Virginia is able to attract leading plastics companies due to its strategic East Coast location, world-class transportation system, competitive operating costs and its highly skilled workforce, referenced above.  Virginia’s higher education system offers a number of training programs to meet the needs of the plastics industry. Those programs include the High Performance Manufacturing Technician certification offered through the Virginia Community College System, the Certificate in Polymer Manufacturing Processes at Danville Community College, the Advanced Manufacturing and Packaging Technology curriculum at Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, and the Center for High Performance Manufacturing and the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute, both at Virginia Tech.

With more than 200 plastics companies operating in the Commonwealth, Virginia actively participates in industry events, such as the Plastics News Executive Forum and the upcoming National Plastics Expo in Orlando, Fl., from April 2-5. Come visit VEDP at booth #174 to learn more about Virginia’s strengths in the plastics industry.