News: Colby (PCA Relocation - 2017)

Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: O’Brien, Schmidt

----Source: The Tribune - Phonograph (Abbotsford, WI) 8/16/2017

Packaging Corporation of America, a business with over 50 years of history in the city of Colby, is planning to relocate its local operations to a new building in Marshfield next year.

The city of Marshfield offered PCA a $3.1 million incentive package to relocate there, which included $300,000 for the purchase of 30 acres of land in the Yellowstone Industrial Park on the city’s southeast side, according to the Marshfield News Herald. PCA plans to build a 270,000 square foot facility, at an estimated cost of $15 million, and to bring a total of 100 jobs to Marshfield, including 20 newly created positions.

Officials in both Colby and Abbotsford tried to get PCA to build the new plant locally, but the deal-breaker was the lack of reliable rail service on the Canadian National line. Colby Mayor Jim Schmidt said Canadian National could not guarantee rail service more than the current one day a week, which was a necessity for PCA’s expanded operations.