Agape Plastics to bring 25 new manufacturing jobs to Grand Rapids with facility expansion

A 23,000-square-foot facility expansion at Grand Rapids' Agape Plastics, Inc. will bring some 20 to 25 manufacturing jobs to the area over the next 18 months, says VP Jeff Powers.

Powers says the City of Grand Rapids Board of Zoning Appeals approved the company's expansion plans Monday night, and construction could begin this week.

The company, which operates with 125 employees and a 54,000-square-foot plant at 11474 1st Ave. NW, does custom injection molding for the automotive industry, creating a variety of automobile components for steering columns, drive trains, interior trim, fascia attachments and more.

"During the economic downturn, we lost volume of the projects we had, but we didn't lose any jobs," Powers says. "Coming out of the downturn, we had the ability to invest in new programs and new equipment and some of our competitors couldn't do that. That positioned us to win programs from existing customers and from new customers as well."

That influx of new work means Agape Plastics will begin adding jobs this summer and will continue over the next 18 months as the expanded facility and new equipment gets up to speed, Powers says.

The company aims to add injection mold process technicians, plastic engineering positions, salaried engineering staff and injection mold operators.

"Not only will we be hiring local, talented people, we'll be continuing to grow our business with local vendors," Powers says. "We think Grand Rapids is the ideal place to manufacture these parts -- this is where we are, this is where we want to be, this is where we want to invest our tax dollars; we don't want to go anyplace else."

For more information on the company, click here.

Source: Jeff Powers, Agape Plastics, Inc.
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor