Plastics manufacturer sets major expansion in Sparks

Productivity California Inc., which recycles plastic scrap to manufacture nursery containers at a plant in Sparks, is in the process of nearly tripling employment at its northern Nevada operation.

The company, better known as ProCal, is moving manufacturing operations currently headquartered in Southern California to the Sparks facility. As it completes that transition, employment will increase to about 170, up from 60 before the move.

Tim Fetters, the company's general manager, said ProCal likes the Sparks location for its ability to easily serve customers throughout the West and likes the Nevada business environment as well.

The Nevada Commission on Economic Development last week approved tax abatements to encourage ProCal to invest in new equipment at its Spice Island Drive facility.

In its application for the incentives, ProCal said it plans to invest more than $2 million in plastic injection molding equipment. As a direct result of the investment in new equipment, the company will employ nine at an average wage of $24.46.

As the move of California operations to Nevada continues, Fetter said administrative and customer-support service positions also will migrate to Sparks.

He said the biggest challenge the company has faced so far in its expansion is finding enough workers as it's accustomed to recruiting in the far larger population base of Southern California.

ProCal, a subsidiary of Myers Industries of Akron, Ohio, mixes post-consumer recycled material such as plastic soda bottles and industrial plastic scrap during its manufacturing process. The recycled material accounts for roughly 60 percent of its plastics requirements.