Land exchange makes way for expansion

A land-locked manufacturing firm in Oconto is slated to double in size and add 50 employees once a land swap and sale is finalized and an addition built. In an agreement approved Thursday by the Oconto County Board, the county would acquire a 1/2-acre lot across the street from the Materials Recovery Facility, 153 Evergreen St., Oconto, and move recycling operations to the new location. The county, in turn, would sell a 3/4-acre lot to the Gregory Company, providing space for an 80,000 square-foot addition to its 75,000 square-foot facility. Roger Kimps, managing partner of Gregory Company, said the expansion will allow the company to increase its workforce in Oconto from 100 to 150 employees. Kimps and his wife sold Graphic Management Specialty Products Inc. (GMSP Inc.) to Hoffmaster Group Inc., which has three plants and employs about 1,000 people. Hoffmaster provides tabletop products, like menus and napkins, to the health care and food service markets. “When we sold the company, preservation of jobs was important to us … along with the future jobs,” Kimps told the County Board. Without an expansion at the Oconto location, jobs could transfer to another facility and employment of the existing 100 workers would be jeopardized, he said. Gregory Company is responsible for the costs, estimated at $150,000 to $200,000, to relocate the Materials Recovery Facility to its new location. According to Pat Virtues, head of the county’s Planning, Zoning and Solid Waste Department, the MRF scale will be replaced and a new entrance to the MRF building will be created. In addition, the parking area, security fence, gate and utilities will be relocated. County Supervisor Ron Korzeniewski said the arrangement will be good for all parties involved, although Supervisor Gary Frank questioned whether it was prudent to invest in the MRF, when methods of waste handling may change as early as 2015, when the county’s recycling contracts with municipalities will expire. He said county residents hope to have single stream recycling. The County Board, with a unanimous vote, approved the land exchange.