PROVIDENCE – Norpak LLC, a New Jersey-based food packaging product manufacturer, is relocating its manufacturing facility to South Kingstown.
The company is taking over the former Schneider Electric site at 132 Fairgrounds Road, a 20-acre property in the village of West Kingston that sits less than a mile from the University of Rhode Island campus and adjacent to the Amtrak/MBTA train station.
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Founded in 1952, Norpak uses a water-based printing process to convert large rolls of paper to food grade coated paper products, including wax paper, pizza boxes and grocery bags.
A quick claim deed filed with the Town of South Kingstown, land evidence records on Aug. 21 show 132 Fairgrounds, LLC, a Florida-based subsidiary, paid $7.5 million for the property. The sale was brokered by Providence-based MG Commercial, who had originally listed the site for $9 million.
Schneider, a French multinational green technology and automation company, ran a manufacturing facility at the site until 2020. With its North American headquarters in Andover, Mass., Schneider specializes in commercial, industrial and residential automation and energy management.
A spokesperson, Thomas Eck, said the 2020 move was part of a transition to a hybrid workplace model and the employees at the West Kingston site began reporting to the Foxboro, Mass. location.
“The sale has not impacted the size of our team in the area,” he said.
Build in 1973, The 282,537 square foot building was most recently assessed at $11.8 million, according to the South Kingstown tax assessor’s office.
The R.I. Commerce Corp. Investment Committee on Sept. 6 approved an application by Norpak for the R.I. Qualified Jobs Incentive Act, according to spokesperson Matthew Touchette. The application will now go to the full board of directors for final approval.
Established in 2015, the act was established to convince companies to expand or relocate to Rhode Island. Successful applicants receive annual, redeemable tax credits for up to 10 years, which equal up to $7,500 per job per year, “depending on the wage level and other criteria,” according to the Commerce website. The first 500 approved jobs receive the maximum credit available, which are paid to the company only after workers hired under the program have paid income taxes.
The sunset date of the program was extended from Dec. 2023 to Dec. 2024 as part of the fiscal 2024 state budget.
Representatives from Norpak did not respond to requests for comment. But according to May 31 meeting minutes of the South Kingstown Zoning Board, the company plans to employ between 75 and 100 people over the next three years. It was not immediately clear when they plan to start.
Norpak was before the review board for a special use permit required per
town Zoning Ordinance, which it received in June, according to zoning and building official, James Gorman.
An attorney for Norpak, Kelley Morris Salvatore, the current Cumberland town solicitor and a partner with Providence-based law firm Darrow Everett LLP, declined to comment.
During a May meeting with the zoning board, Norpak representative Jonathan Fox said the company had reached capacity at its New Jersey location and is looking to expand. The company hopes to take advantage of the nearby the rail-line “but that has yet to be determined,” he said.
A private company, Norpak has annual revenues between $10 million and $24 million, according to Moody’s Analytics.
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com
