Malnove wants to lay the foundation for its proposed North Jacksonville paperboard packaging plant expansion in Imeson International Industrial Park.
Malnove Inc. of Florida owns the property at 10500 Canada Drive at northeast Canada Drive and Malnove Road.
The company proposes adding 171,925 square feet of warehouse space to an existing 184,304-square-foot plant, creating a 356,229-square-foot building.
Malnove.com says that Malnove Packaging Solutions in Jacksonville provides package development, manufacturing and shipping expertise on the U.S. East Coast.
The company makes custom folding carton solutions that include printing, custom cutting, finishing and packaging.
Haskew Company & Associates Inc. of Jacksonville is the contractor for the foundation construction at an estimated $50,000. AVA Engineers Inc. of Jacksonville is the civil engineer. Codes-ABC Inc. of Orange Park is providing code compliance.
AVA Engineers submitted civil engineering plans to the city in June 2024 to add 171,925 square feet to the building. Plans said it was for warehouse space and that no employees or additional trucks are proposed.
The city approved site clearing for the expansion in December 2024 at a cost of $50,000.
Duval County property records show that Malnove acquired the 14.5-acre Imeson property in 1995 and built an almost 240,000-square-foot industrial building in 1998. It added a roughly 4,000-square-foot accessory building in 2024.
Malnove Packaging Solutions President Dale Houck said in July 2024 that the proposed expansion was for warehousing only, reflecting strength in the business.
“We are enthusiastic about the growth of the company and the industry,” he said.
Houck said the industry is benefiting from people moving from using plastic to paper. He said a lot of large companies have committed to deadlines to reduce plastic use.
Founded in 1948, Malnove located its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1976. The original Jacksonville plant opened in 1981 in Southside, moving to Imeson in 1998. A Utah plant opened in 1985.
Malnove installed robotic palletizing in all facilities in 2020.
Houck said the warehouse would store Malnove’s finished goods and the stock it uses to make cartons.
He said the company will vacate warehouse space nearby when the lease expires at year-end 2025 and consolidate the activity at the main Malnove operation.
“We want to have this one by the end of next year,” he said, referring to year-end 2025.
Houck said Malnove also had added a bailer building.
Malnove.com posted April 8, 2024, that the company would expand in Jacksonville with the new bailer building to elevate its in-house bailing capabilities, assist in increased capacity and allow the company to separate and bail “an impressive 99% of our own paperboard scrap.”
Paperboard bailing is the process of compressing paper or cardboard into a dense bale and securing it with wire or plastic strapping.
Malnove has been expanding the plant since 2021.
JAX Chamber announced in February 2021 that Malnove was expanding and upgrading its folding-carton manufacturing plant.
The Jacksonville City Council approved a $160,000 property tax incentive Dec. 8, 2020, for Malnove Holding Co. Inc.
Council voted to offer the company a five-year, 50% Recapture Enhanced Value Grant in exchange for creating 10 full-time jobs and investing $7.4 million investment in machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures.
The legislative fact sheet said the plant would add a manufacturing line.
JAX Chamber said the expansion would create the new jobs and retain 182 jobs.
According to a memo from the city Office of Economic Development with the incentives legislation, Malnove also leased 100,500 square feet of additional warehouse space.
The performance schedule in the economic development agreement showed Malnove completing the equipment purchase and installation by Dec. 31, 2022.
The city said July 3, 2024, that the expansion is complete and that Malnove was in compliance with the economic development agreement.