El Dorado’s PCI Buys Old Cooper Auto Site, Adds Line of 5-Gallon Pails

Polyethylene Containers Inc. of El Dorado is expanding its physical footprint, workforce and product line with a Los Angeles acquisition and a huge new facility — the 246,000-SF Cooper Standard Automotive Plant.

PCI, a manufacturer of rigid containers, also acquired a pail manufacturing line from Rehrig Pacific of Los Angeles, and it plans to create 40 jobs at the shuttered car plant at 166 Cooper Drive in El Dorado, next door to PCI’s current facility. There, PCI is poised to become one of the largest 5-gallon pail manufacturers in the country, according to CEO Walter Tyson. It had previously made only plastic drums.

Tyson, who didn’t reveal what PCI paid for the acquisition or the factory, told Arkansas Business the expansion’s timing was fortunate rather than planned.

“We bought [the plant] and are in the process of rebuilding and getting ready to move a bunch of new equipment over there to start this new business” of making pails.

While avoiding specifics, Tyson called the moves “a multimillion-dollar” investment, adding that he expects the plant to open in mid-2021. The company received no state or local incentives, he said.

Adding 40 management and hourly jobs would more than double PCI’s current workforce of 35.

“It just happened to be pretty good timing for us,” Tyson said. “We weren’t going to move our existing bit of stuff there right off the bat.” The acquisition altered plans, which now call for moving “a substantial amount of machines,” including the new machines from Rehrig sites around the country, he said. “We’re just going to set them up in the new facility.”

Rehrig Pacific, which built its pail business up in recent years, said in a news release that it is constantly innovating and diversifying in response to customers’ needs. “As business changes, so must we,” President and Owner Will Rehrig said in a news release. “We searched for a family-owned business,” Rehrig said, devoted to product quality and customer service.

The pail manufacturing line is being moved to El Dorado from Rehrig Pacific’s plants in Orlando; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Dallas, Tyson said. Once it opens, Polyethylene Containers will have two plants, both in El Dorado.

PCI’s products serve many industries, Tyson said, containing lubricants, chemicals, powder, chemicals, grease and more. “We supply a lot of products to the hazardous waste industry,” as well as the home improvement industry, which has surged during the pandemic, he said. That has helped keep business steady, Tyson said.

The company will mark its 40th anniversary in January, Tyson said, but celebrations will wait until the new plant opens.