North Las Vegas celebrates opening of plastic manufacturing plant

By Megan Messerly

Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 | 2 a.m.

North Las Vegas officials touted the opening of a new plastic manufacturing plant on Tuesday as a sign of positive economic growth in the city.

Employees of the company, Parker Plastics, gathered together with city and state officials, customers and others to celebrate the opening of its new 70,000-square-foot plant, the company’s fourth in the nation and first in the West. The company hopes the new Southern Nevada plant will help expand its business on the West Coast.

“We’re excited to be here in Nevada, and we just want to share that excitement with you,” said Parker Plastics President Jim Parker.

One of the reasons the company started looking at North Las Vegas, he said, was that one of their customers already had a facility here. That company helped put Parker Plastics in contact with the city, and then it was just a matter of working out the details with city and state officials.

Parker Plastics produces custom sizes and shapes of bottles by taking small, preform plastic bottles, warming them up, and blowing them into a mold under high pressure. The company got its start in 1989 making honeybear-shaped bottles for a customer in Southern California.

All four council members, who attended the event, said the opening of the plastics plant boded well for job growth and economic development in the city.

“They’re entrusting the well-being of their employees to our community,” said Councilman Isaac Barron, whose ward encompasses the plant. “There’s no bigger endorsement than to entrust your business to the community.”

At the opening, Mayor John Lee made a pitch to all the businesspeople in the room: Come do business in North Las Vegas.

“The Strip and Fremont Street are the boutiques of the valley,” Lee said. “North Las Vegas is the breadbasket.”

The plant currently employs about 15 people, but the company hopes to increase the number to 60 to 70 over the next three years, employing a number of mechanics and bottle inspectors, said Matt O’Neill, new projects manager for the company. At peak operation, the plant has the capacity to produce about 80,000 bottles in an eight-hour shift, said plant manager John Garland.

The hope is that Parker Plastics will help fill the supply chain for other manufacturers in the area and keep as much business as possible within the city, said Terri Sheridan, economic development specialist for the city.

“Congratulations for one of the best decisions you’ve made in your life,” said Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison at the opening. “Vegas and Nevada will always be the gaming city and gaming state. But we know how important it is to diversify our economy.”