Advance Packaging Expands

A Kentwood-based packaging company, which creates boxes and retail displays for companies ranging from Bell's Brewery to Herman Miller, plans to hire six employees after purchasing a $13 million printing press, company officials say.

Advance Packaging, 4459 40th St. SE, says the new printing press - about 15 feet tall and half a football filed in length - can more quickly turn out the colorful, high-resolution packaging material it produces for companies throughout the U.S.

"This allows us to keep everything in house, because we can do it our self," said David Straten, director of graphic packaging for Advance. "We're not buying another process on the outside and then bringing it in. The more that we can do in house, the more we can offer, and the better prices we can offer."

The machine is expected to be up and running by mid- to late-August, and the company is now in the process of hiring six-full time employees who will be tasked with helping run it.

The positions are expected to start at $24 per-hour, though individuals with prior experience could receive as much as $27 per-hour, said Scott Kloss, Advance's sales and marketing coordinator. The new hires will undergo 30 hours of training before starting.

Advance Packaging, created in 1966, has 253 employees at its 500,000-square-foot headquarters in Kentwood. The privately held company is approaching $100 million in sales this year, officials said.

It creates everything from typical brown boxes used to ship products to more colorful, elaborate retail displays, emblazoned with photographic quality images, Straten said.