Brands deal in plastic, paper, foil, recycling, or composting applications and focus on customers within the retail, grocery, convenience store, deli, food service, hospitality, institutional, processor and industrial markets.
Two Novolex locations in the region include Heritage Bag Company at 4255 Thunderbird Lane in West Chester Twp. and its Burrows packaging division (Burrows Paper Corporation) in Franklin. Novolex acquired Heritage in May 2016.
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Heritage Bag Company, a second-generation, privately owned business that was founded in 1973, is one of the leading institutional can liner producers in North America. A manufacturer of plastic trash bags, can liners and food bags sold to institutional and commercial customers, it has nearly 800 employees and operates six manufacturing sites
It employs 160 people in Butler County and is hiring as many as 50 due to expansion efforts, according to Novolex human resources field manager Kelli Steinbrunner.
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Heritage’s products serve the health care, food service and hospitality, industrial, education, office building, building services and transportation markets.
We spoke with Steinbrunner about the company’s challenges and needs, especially as it pertains to hiring. Here’s what she had to say.
Q: What’s the biggest challenge facing the company and others in the industry and how is the company uniquely positioned to address that challenge?
A: “Staffing and retention is our biggest obstacle, across the board. In an area that is highly populated with industry and saturated with talent, we are challenged every day to contend with other businesses in the area for our workforce. We have recently increased out entry level starting pay and are excited to offer such a robust benefit package to everyone one of our full time employees. We recently introduced a referral bonus to financially benefit our employees in referring family and friends to come work in a safe and stable work environment.”
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Q: What’s the most prevalent roadblock you encounter when it comes to hiring and what can job seekers do to remedy that situation?
A: “(The Butler County location) has approximately 160 families. We have recently expanded our production by adding three new lines with an additional two lines to be installed this year. We are excited and thrilled to communicate that we are looking to add on 40 to 50 new employees. Competition with our local business for great entry level employees is a challenge but one that we hope we will be able to overcome.”
Q: What’s the vision for the company’s growth, both jobs and otherwise, for the next five years?
A: “Growth is definitely in the vision for the company. Not only is Novolex positioned for continued growth in the industry but also the (Butler County) location. We have recently added three lines with two more to be added by the end of the year. ”
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Q: Some job seekers are concerned about the limits of advancement within a company. To what degree can your employees advance from entry-level positions?
A: “All employees have the opportunity to grow within the Novolex/Heritage Family. With proper training and demonstrated experience our goal is to grow each and every one of employees to be able to perform and display their capabilities each and every day. Many of our growth opportunities are filled internally through promotional steps. We encourage all of our employees to have the vision of growth and stability with us.”
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