South Central Reporter

City of Centralia Industrial Commission met March 21.

Here is the minutes provided by the commission:

Meeting called to order by Vice Chair, Ken Coughlin

Members Present: Bo Baer, Dick Cary, Ken Coughlin, Travis Etheridge, Bob Feig, and Bill Sprehe

Members Absent: Tom Ashby, Dave Agee, Jack Mann, Ty Orr, Dan Ramey, and Lloyd Vestal

Also Present: Rose Aldag-McVey – City of Centralia Economic Development Director, Jennifer Sanders – Reporter, Centralia Morning Sentinel, Pat Hodges – Reporter, WJBD Radio, and Phillip Sterling - Operations Manager and Assistant Plant Manager, Graphic Packaging

Public Comment: None

Approval of Minutes: Since there was not a quorum, no procedural actions took place.

Ongoing Business: Aldag-McVey reported on progress requested by Mayor Ashby as a result of January’s presentation by Rick Benedict of Intermountain Electronics. She and two representatives from Centralia High School met with representatives of Intermountain Electronics (IE) and toured the plant. An informal plan was developed to begin a student apprenticeship for Junior and Senior High School students which would include working the summer and a portion of two to three days per week during the school year. Thirty plus welding, CAD and related students have met with plant staff and toured the site. According to Benedict, the response was positive and all completed applications; High School counselors report they are conducting preliminary interviews to narrow the field of candidates. Counselors will narrow the selection then send final candidates to IE for interviews. IE will be able to host up to seven students with this $10 per hour paid apprenticeship with high potential for future full-time employment and the potential, for those interested, assistance in funding college education in a needed field. This is one of the actions to assist in the voiced concern for workforce.

Since there was no quorum, the election of officers will be placed on the April agenda.

New Business: Aldag-McVey introduced Phillip Sterling, Operations Manager and Assistant Plant Manager at Graphic Packaging which is part of GPK. Locally they employ 180 with 14,000 across all GPK plants and their headquarters are in Atlanta Georgia. At the Centralia Industrial Park plant, they prepare folding food cartons for almost all food products. Their largest is the box for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, other commonly known products include Stouffers frozen foods, and General Mills products. They run five printing presses and staff the plant 24/7. There are seven plants within GPK which are similar to the Centralia plant, Sterling proudly announced his plant is the best in productivity and this is primarily due to the experienced workforce.

Locally there are 22 salary with the remaining 158 as hourly positions. Currently, they only have one opening which Sterling anticipates filling very quickly. They have low turnover due to GPK’s decision a few years ago to assure they offer the best pay in each area; currently the hourly range is from $16 to $32 per hour, the plant is temperature controlled, and they show appreciation to employees. They will host an Employee Day in August. Eight to twelve temporary workers as used.

The average output is eight million cartons per day sending out approximately 20 truck load per day. Their largest ‘ship to’ site is Springfield Utah and that is their biggest trucking hurdle as truckers find it hard to find return loads. They receive raw material by rail. They store limited product with a two to three-week lead time.

Graphic Packaging intends to invest $1 million this year for a dryer to speed the ink drying process.

Aldag-McVey reported the City is partnering with the Small Business Development Center to host April 4 with experts at City Hall, assisting those who are interested in opening or who have already opened a small business. They will also host a workshop of Social Media Best Practices the same day.

Commissioners were asked to complete Open Meeting Act training and supply Kim Enke with their certificate. Also, they were asked to complete a distributed Economic Interest Statement form and return to the Marion County Clerk before April 1.

Discussion: Coughlin asked the status of Dreamality Athletics. The City hosted third annual Job Fair is in the planning phase according to Aldag-McVey. April’s speaker will be Jason Enke of Mid AM Building Supply.

https://cityofcentralia.org/vertical/sites/%7BFC680FE7-BE5C-4903-A103-67AF5EF51655%7D/uploads/3-_March_2019_Industrial_Development_Commission_Minutes.pdf