THE ROANOKE REGION OF VIRGINIA

ROCKY MOUNT, Va. (August 17, 2010) – Trinity Packaging Corporation, a manufacturer of food service and industrial plastic bag products, today announced that it will make a multi-million dollar investment in an additional facility in Rocky Mount that will create 25 new jobs over the next 36 months and, more importantly, retain 75 existing full-time positions.

The company has purchased the former Erath Veneer building, which is adjacent to the facility Trinity has operated since 2002 in the Franklin County-Rocky Mount Industrial Park. The company’s investment will include the building purchase, new equipment and expanded infrastructure.

Headquartered in Armonk, New York, Trinity Packaging was founded in 1917 as Trinity Bag and Paper Company. In 1979, Trinity entered into the plastics market and throughout the 1990s expanded its plastics product offerings to include retail store bags, mailing envelopes, food service bags and lawn and garden bags. Trinity is now widely considered a leader in innovation and plastic products for the entire North American market. Trinity also operates plants in Lewistown, Pennsylvania and Pueblo, Colorado. Virginia successfully competed against Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin for this expansion.

"Our people are our greatest asset and the work ethic of people in the Rocky Mount area is outstanding" said Dan Mills Trinity V.P. of Operations. "We were very pleased with the responsiveness of officials from Franklin County, the Town of Rocky Mount, the Roanoke Regional Partnership and the Commonwealth of Virginia as they worked to help us make the expansion happen here."

“Trinity Packaging’s success with its Rocky Mount facility helped drive the decision to expand here,” said Charles Wagner, chairman of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors. “In these tough economic times, adding jobs has never been more important. But Trinity Packaging’s decision is also a testament to the excellent business climate in Franklin County and the Commonwealth.”

“It’s always gratifying when a local company expands in place,” said Beth Doughty, executive director. “It proves what we always say about the region as a great place to do business and live.”

“The Town of Rocky Mount is committed to working with our existing businesses to help them expand,” said Mayor Steve Angle. “We are pleased that Trinity has put an idle building back into service, demonstrating what we can do with the private sector when we partner to develop employment opportunities.”

The expansion will allow Trinity Packaging to increase the capacity of its Rocky Mount plant by hiring additional production workers for its printing and extrusion processes, as well as expanding space for new equipment, raw materials and storage. The company will begin hiring later this year and will work through the Virginia Employment Commission.

The company was aided in its decision by Franklin County, the Town of Rocky Mount, the Roanoke Regional Partnership, Virginia Economic Development Partnership, and Virginia Department of Business Assistance. The company will benefit from a state and local incentive package, which includes a $100,000 Governor’s Opportunity Fund grant and $100,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, in addition to local government grants, training funds from the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, and rail access funds from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. David Cundiff, member of the Virginia Tobacco Commission, commented that, “It is a great honor to provide the citizens of Franklin County with the much needed funding to create and to sustain jobs in the county.”

The Roanoke Regional Partnership markets Franklin County along with Alleghany, Botetourt, and Roanoke Counties, Roanoke, Salem, and Vinton to new and expanding industry. Since 1983, the Partnership has assisted expansions and locations representing $1.3 billion in new investment and nearly 14,000 direct new jobs in the region.

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