Polyethylene Containers ready for present and beyond
Polyethylene Containers, Inc. (PCI) of El Dorado is set to expand its facilities into the old Cooper Tire facility and recently acquired Rehrig Pacific’s product line.
PCI products are manufactured using state-of-the-art computer controlled molding equipment combined with premium resins, according to the company’s website. They sell an assortment of drums, feeders, gallon and liter pails.
PCI will also be celebrating 40 years of operation this year.
“We started in 1981,” Walter Tyson, CEO of Polyethylene Containers said. “We originally manufactured Polyethylene pipe and in 1995 we sold off the pipe division and started manufacturing containers: 30 gallon drums and five gallon pails.”
Walter Tyson also talked about the company’s current schedule around expanding into the new facility and purchasing Rehrig Pacific’s pail product line.
“We bought the former Cooper building in November. We’re in the process of absorbing the Rehrig Pacific pail business,” Tyson shared. “We’re expecting new equipment to start coming in around March. We’ve started to gut out what needs to be gutted out from the Cooper facility.”
The purchasing of Rehrig Pacific’s pail portfolio is of great significance to PCI, Tyson said.
“I’ve always had a great relationship with them,” Tyson said.
“We used to buy pails from them and I’ve known the guys there a long time and they approached us about the potential to buy their pail product line, we started a dialogue and basically went from there. We felt it was worthwhile venture for us and here we are,”
“Business is always changing,” Will Rehrig, president and owner of Rehrig Pacific said in a Dec. 2020 press release. “When my great grandfather started this business in 1913, we made wooden battery crates. Today, I’m proud to say that we are constantly innovating and building new product lines that set a standard for quality and reliability. This is a smart strategic move for two forward-thinking companies that will help both of us serve our customers better.”
Given that 2021 marks their 40th anniversary, the company is currently brainstorming ideas on how to celebrate it, Tyson said.
“We’re thinking about doing an open house around June,” Tyson said. “We should be in full operation in the new facility in June, so we’re thinking about doing that to celebrate.”
Tyson emphasized how proud he is to be based in El Dorado and the significance of a local company still thriving.
“We are locally owned and operated. We’re hiring, we’re growing. So it is kind of a different story from the rest of the world,” he said. “Everything is not doom and gloom, we’re busier than we’ve ever been. We’re mapping out 2021 and beyond.”