Bennett Packaging in Lee’s Summitt, Missouri, one of the largest independently-owned corrugated packaging companies in the United State, has completed installation of its second high-speed, state-of-the-art digital printing press. The $4 million capital investment was made possible through a Chapter 100 Industrial Development Bond agreement.
Rick McDowell, president and chief executive officer of the Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council, said that a collaboration between Bennett and the City of Lee’s Summit made the business investment possible.
Bennett manufactures corrugated boxes and store displays and has grown from $19 million in sales in 2004 to $65 million in 2018. In 2014, the City of Lee’s Summit granted the Lee’s Summit- based company $8 million in Chapter 100 Industrial Revenue Bonds in two increments of $4 million each for the purchase of two direct-to-corrugated printing presses. The Barberan Jetmaster digital presses were the first of their kind to be installed in the United States.
Bennett purchased its first 66-inch Jetmaster in 2015, which operates during three shifts each day at its Lee’s Summit headquarters. In 2018, the company purchased a second 48-inch Jetmaster that has a smaller footprint and allows Bennett to have redundancy in the plant for digital presses.
Not all of Bennett’s print jobs are suited to digital printing, therefore the company continues to offer lithograph and flexo print services.
