(La Porte, IN) - A maker of machines filling containers with everything from juice, distilled spirits and cleaning solution outside La Porte is planning to expand.  An incentive package has been prepared to try and make sure the company stays here to grow.

 

E-PAK Machinery would add 30,000 square feet to its operation on Indiana 39 near LaPorte Municipal Airport.  Tony Swedersky, president of E-PAK Machinery, said higher demand for liquid filling machines designed and made by his company over the past 10-years has created a need to expand.  He said demand was further enhanced during the pandemic for machines designed to bottle sanitizers and disinfectants.  “The demand right now that we have for space is very painful because of that uptick,” Swedersky said.

 

The La Porte County Council gave preliminary approval Monday night to placing the facility into an Economic Revitalization Zone.  Doing that would make the company eligible for a 10-year tax abatement on new construction and $750,000 in additional equipment, said Tony Rodriguez, Executive Director of the LaPorte County Office for Economic and Community Development.  A final decision is expected following a public hearing at the council’s next regularly scheduled meeting on February 22.

 

If approved, Rodriguez said it’ll be up to the company to decide whether to stay here and expand or relocate and grow.  The company also has plants in Ludington, Michigan and outside Buffalo, New York.  Swedersky said those facilities are also being looked at for the expansion.  “I’m happy to do what we can to help them out and keep them here in LaPorte County,” said La Porte County Council President Randy Novak.

 

Rodriguez said the company has 64 full time employees and payroll of $2.4 million last year.  He said 10 additional jobs are projected during the first two-years of the expansion with more newly created positions possibly to follow.

 

“They’re one of the back bones of our local economy,” Rodriguez said.