Sonderen Packaging, a longtime Spokane paperboard carton maker, has added $3.5 million in equipment here recently, and says its planning a big expansion of its plant here to handle anticipated growth.


Mark Sonderen, the companys president, says Sonderen Packaging installed a die cutter and gluer with financing from a $2 million community-development bond. The bond, which is underwritten by Washington state, has favorable interest rates for business expansion to promote employment growth.


In addition, Sonderen Packaging has added a printing press and sheeter, at a cost of $1.5 million. A sheeter cuts materials to rough size, while a die cutter cuts the precise shape needed to construct a carton, Sonderen says.


The 43-year-old company also is planning a 35,000-to-40,000-square-foot expansion to its 85,000-square-foot facility, at 2906 N. Crestline, to consolidate its operations and prepare for future equipment upgrades, which may include another die cutter, Sonderen says. The company currently has 10,000 square feet of off-site storage for paperboard.


We need the expansion to operate efficiently, he says. We have a couple of huge accounts that are growing rapidly.


Associated Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor for the planned expansion, which Sonderen says he anticipates will be completed in about a year.


Sonderen Packaging bought the assets of Seattle-based Stoneway Carton Co. two years ago and has moved that companys operations here. Since then, the Spokane companys revenue has grown 80 percent to reach $22.5 million this year, up from $12.5 million in 2004, Sonderen says. In that time, the companys staff has grown from 65 employees to more than 100, he says.


Sonderen says hes expecting to see 10 percent annual growth for at least the next two years. He says he plans to hire more employees soon.


Well be adding three more support or middle-management positions and six more factory positions, he says.


The middle-management employees will include a specialist in human resources, Sonderen says, adding, Were probably past due for that.


The company plans to continue leasing a 6,000-square-foot warehouse and sales office in Puyallup, Wash., and a sales office in Vancouver, Wash.