Saltillo Cardboard Box Manufacturing Plant To Get Major Upgrade

SALTILLO, Miss. (WCBI)- A Georgia based company announces a major upgrade to its Northeast Mississippi plant.

WestRock will install a new, 132 inch corrugator to replace an existing 87 inch machine.

That means the Saltillo plant will produce larger cardboard boxes for customers worldwide.

“Appliance equipment, you ‘re looking at lawn care, equipment, so we have all kinds of products to go into what we make,” said Ricky Parris, of WestRock.

WestRock has undergone several name changes over the years, but they’ve made the same materials at the plant since 1971.

Company officials could have put the massive corrugator at any of WestRock’s locatio, but chose the Saltillo plant for one reason.

“What we’ve seen come out of here from a results standpoint, this plant has stepped up and performed at a high level and they’ve done it safely,” Parris said.

While the upgrade is a big boost for WestRock, it’s also being seen as another sign that a more robust national economy is being felt in Northeast Mississippi.

“They’re evidently getting a lot of orders in and making boxes to ship all kind of parts all over the world so I guess the boxing industry would be a good economic indicator for the world,” said Mike Smith, president of the Lee County Board of Supervisors.

The equipment should be installed by September and is expected to add 25 jobs to WestRock’s payroll.

WestRock currently employs 169 people at the Saltillo plant.