PaperTech heading into busy season

The start of a new school year will mean a busier season for PaperTech, maker of paperboard trays and containers for food products. The company at 115 Bentley Court supplies paperboard trays and containers for individually made meals to many school systems, said Caitlin Mabrey, general manager of the Findlay plant. But there are other reasons for the seasonal uptick in business. "People are at home more, so they're constantly having frozen food meals or they are going to work and they have meals that they bring with them to work," she said. "The frozen food industry increases a little bit when people are in the normal course of the year and not vacation months." PaperTech makes trays and containers for about 70 customers, including Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Marco's Pizza and Conagra. One of its largest customers is Papa Murphy's take n' bake pizza, which operates across much of the United States, though not in Ohio. "We make a lot of pizza trays. We made a lot of macaroni trays, frozen food containers. We're making monkey bread dishes," Mabrey said. "We make everything from a small marinara tray to a medium-size frozen food meal to a larger lasagna tray to larger pizza trays." PaperTech is growing. It employs 133 people and is hiring 25 to 30 more in its production and facility operations. Customer demand is strong, the company reported. To help its hiring efforts in the nationwide labor shortage, PaperTech has enhanced its employee compensation and benefits programs, including: • Starting entry-level wages of $15-16 per hour (depending on skill level). • Comprehensive, affordable medical benefits. • 401(k) offering with eligibility for company match. • Personal time off. • Paid breaks. • A $500 sign-on bonus. At the same time the company is adding jobs, PaperTech is investing millions of dollars in facility improvements, digital transformation and additional production equipment to expand capacity for growth, the company reported. Those interested in applying for open positions should visit the PaperTech careers page on its website for more information, https://papertrays.com/careers.php Wilin: 419-427-8413