Balcan Plastics, a Quebec-based manufacturer of flexible packaging and technical films, has bought a roughly 215,000-square-foot facility in Pleasant Prairie’s LakeView Corporate Park. A village official said the company is planning an operation there with 60 employees.
An affiliate of the company paid $13 million to acquire the 50-acre property at 7201 108th St. from Mondi Akrosil LLC. The property was assessed at $9.14 million for 2020, according to Kenosha County records.
“We are pleased to see Balcan Plastics invest here in Pleasant Prairie,” said Nathan Thiel, village administrator of Pleasant Prairie. “The company had several options around the nation, but ultimately selected on our community, which will result in manufacturing jobs and enhance the use of an existing building.”
Mondi Akrosil, a division of London and Vienna-based international packaging and paper company Mondi plc, informed state officials last year the company planned to close the facility by July 1 of this year, a move that eliminated 108 jobs.
Balcan makes protective packaging, shipping sacks, form fill seal packaging, shrink packaging and food packaging for a number of industries, including horticulture and agriculture, building products, wood products, home goods, food and beverage, and chemicals.
Pleasant Prairie community development director Jean Werbie-Harris said the company plans to manufacture polyethylene blown film and related converted products like bags, pouches and sheeting. Balcan would make 15 million pounds of finished product in its first full year of production at the site and scale up operations over time.
Balcan is proposing to add a rail spur from the Union Pacific railway located to the west to supply raw materials. The company is also planning some other internal and external modifications, including small building additions.
Werbie-Harris said the operation would employ 60 full-time employees across two shifts.
Pleasant Prairie’s plan commission will take up items related to the project on June 14.
