Russian-based
Westpack, a bottle decorating and packaging company, announced this month it would locate a new manufacturing plant in Covington, creating 63 new jobs.
The plant will invest nearly $4.5 million at a 126,000-square-foot space on West 43
rd Street in the Covington neighborhood of Latonia. In addition to bottle decorating and packaging, the plant will be equipped to provide short-run decorations for special events and promotions.
Kentucky’s foreign direct investment continues to grow, with approximately 420 internationally based companies from 30 nations in the Commonwealth, employing nearly 80,000 people.
“The Commonwealth is thrilled to partner with Westpack to see the creation of more than 60 jobs and an investment of nearly $4.5 million,” said Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear in an announcement. “We’re especially proud that a company from Russia has chosen Kentucky to do business, a testament to the ideal logistics and strategic location here in the Commonwealth.”
Westpack is a new expansion of UniPack Group, a full-service glass container decorating and packaging company serving the alcohol beverage industry since 1995. It will be the only company in the state providing bottle labeling and decoration services to the state's bourbon and alcoholic beverage producing and bottling industry.
“With decoration plants in Russia and Europe, expanding into the U.S. market was a natural next step,” said Westpack Managing Director Simon Mnoyan. “And selecting the right state for our production was a function of customer logistics, business operating costs and quality of life. The Commonwealth of Kentucky provided and met all three requirements for our expansion.”
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $1.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
Westpack plans to be in its new space this summer, and is currently taking job applications on its
website.
Written by Feoshia H. Davis
Follow Feoshia on Twitter.
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