American Renolit Wraps Up Engineering Phase, Begins Work to Expand Capacity, Create Job Growth for Community

American Renolit Wraps Up Engineering Phase, Begins Work to Expand Capacity, Create Job Growth for Community

Today American RENOLIT Corp (ARC), one of the largest employers in La Porte and a major engine for local economic growth, announced a groundbreaking to celebrate their latest project - the repurposing of storage space to add a new calender line which will increase production and allow the company to better meet the growing needs of their US-based customers and to develop new markets and applications.

ARC is a leading manufacturer of high-quality plastic films in the United States. Their products are used in manufacturing high-quality thin vinyl film for use in graphic arts and advertising. If you’ve ever passed a car wrapped in eye-catching graphics, chances are the vinyl used to wrap that vehicle got its start right here in Northwest Indiana.

The new manufacturing line represents a $25 million capital investment in the facility. Once operational, it is expected to create openings for 30 new full-time employees at ARC, a 20% increase in their workforce.

Renaat Demeulemeester, President at ARC, said that the groundbreaking marked the end of the engineering phase of the project and a major milestone for the company.

“We can now focus on getting everything in place to start the first production trials on schedule and move to full production by 2019,” Demeulemeester said. “This also means a boost to the local economy as we start hiring and training new staff to operate the line and support business development, creating opportunities for both internal job growth and new hires.”

Melissa Gruber is Human Resources Manager for American RENOLIT Corp.

“We will be looking to start adding positions in August of this year,” Gruber said. “We will start with the production positions. We’ll be hosting a job fair on August 9th for the first phase, and we will be looking to fill the rest of the positions in early 2019. This will allow us to develop internal employees to fill other positions created as a result of this project.”

Demeulemeester credits cooperation between ARC and the city as instrumental in making this project a reality.

“The city helped greatly with local regulatory issues and in setting up infrastructure. They also were helpful in putting together an incentive package which made this capital investment possible,” Demeulemeester said.

Tim Larson, President of Larson-Danielson, is proud that his company was chosen to spearhead the project.

“This is a major excavation inside of a pre-existing building,” Larson said. “Basically, this will require digging a 13 feet-deep hole which will become the foundation for the necessary machinery.”

This latest investment in the La Porte facility highlights RENOLIT’s commitment to the local community. The company has operated in La Porte since 1999 and has invested over $100 million in refurbishing and extending the La Porte plant over the last 18 years.

La Porte Mayor Mark Krentz was happy to see the project break ground and thanked ARC for their ongoing commitment to the community.

“We are thrilled with the collaboration between American RENOLIT and Larson Danielson,” Mayor Krentz said. “ARC and its president, Renaat Demeulemeester, are not just on the sidelines - they are good, active citizens of the community and we appreciate that…We are always excited to see more business coming into the city. That’s a very good thing.”

For more information about American RENOLIT, visit them online at www.renolit.com/laporte