Cameron Family Glass Draws National Attention to Cowlitz County
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After an exhaustive search to find the perfect location for the world’s largest eco-friendly wine bottle man facturing facility – which also is the first new glass plant to be built in the United States in 30 years – Cameron Family Glass Packaging found a home in Cowlitz County.
James Cameron‚ the company’s pres ident and CEO‚ says it was the cooperative effort among area officials that was critical in the decision to locate here.
“Absolutely everyone‚ from the governor to local and regional represen tatives‚ stepped up to the plate to help us make this happen. We’re looking forward to being good community partners‚” Cameron says.
The 175‚000-square-foot‚ state-of-the-art facility will be developed with $109 million in financing and is expected to create at least 90 jobs when completed by the end of 2008.
With construction already under way in the Port of Kalama‚ Cameron Family Glass Packaging’s hydro-pow ered electric furnace will be the largest in the world for wine bottle production and will operate from power generated by the north west waterways of the Columbia River.
“Being environmentally conscious is an absolute priority for us‚” says the company’s chairman‚ Donald Cameron‚ whose family bottled products in Penn sylvania for Coca-Cola for more than 100 years.
Cameron Family Glass Packaging will use recycled glass from Washington and Oregon and will recycle all water used during the glass-making process. The company also has announced plans to launch recycling programs in sur rounding communities where glass is currently being dumped into landfills.
For area entrepreneurs Roy Bays and Joel McNelly‚ owners of Capstone Cellars in Longview‚ the high-profile recruitment for Cowlitz County means new busi ness opportunities on a variety of levels.
“Not only do we hope to source some of our glass from them‚ we’re hoping that for the bigger picture‚ they will help attract even more players in the wine industry to the area. It’s a very big deal and helps to attract national attention to Cowlitz County‚” says Bays.
Since founding Capstone Cellars in 2003‚ Bays and McNelly have received numerous awards for their wines‚ which are made from fruit grown in the Yakima Valley less than 200 miles away. Most recently‚ the winery’s Barrel Select Sangiovese and Syrah won gold medals among 1‚000 entries at the 11th annual Northwest Wine Summit. Capstone Cellars also won a gold medal for its 2004 Merlot and a silver medal for its 2006 Riesling at the Capitol Food and Wine Festival in Lacey.
Ted Sprague‚ president of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council‚ says the arrival of Cameron Family Glass Pack aging and the success of Capstone Cellars demonstrates the organization’s success in helping diversify the local economy.
“This is an economy that traditionally relied on the lumber industry‚ and while it is still the dominant economic driver in our community and very well respected‚ we now have a growing variety of industries that call this area home‚” says Sprague. “The state is cur rently focusing on the wine industry‚ and the Cameron Family Glass Pack aging announcement represents a key piece of that diversification effort.”
According to the Washington Wine Commission‚ the state is home to more than 500 wineries‚ comprising a $3 billion industry that is second in the United States only to California.
“It was a very competitive situation to land Cameron Family Glass Pack aging‚ and we were fortunate enough that they chose our community‚” Sprague says. “The family behind this is doing everything the right way.”
At a time when unemployment is at record low levels and economic growth is strong‚ Cowlitz County is poised for the arrival of additional industry.
“When I came here over six years ago‚ it was inevitable that Cowlitz was going to be discovered. Last year things really took off‚” says Sprague‚ whose organization helped recruit 10 com panies to the area in 2006‚ representing 920 new jobs over the next five years and more than a quarter of a billion dollars in capital investment.
Story by Valerie Pascoe
Photo by Michael W. Bunch
