History

Printpack was founded in 1956 by J. Erskine Love, Jr.

Humble Beginnings

“We had one employee and one piece of equipment. I was the employee and the equipment was a used cellophane bag machine… We rented space in the basement of an office in Sandy Springs and, in every sense of the word, we were truly basement operators. But we were able to survive…” J. Erskine Love, Jr. Founder and President, Printpack

Watch “The History of Printpack”

Discover Our Story

You don’t become one of the largest and innovative packaging converters in the world without cultivating and maintaining a long-standing reputation for providing quality products and services to top brands in a range of consumer food and non-food industries. At Printpack, we pride ourselves on honesty, integrity and innovation.

1956

Erskine Love, Jr., started Printpack with one employee and one piece of equipment.

First customer shipment was to Riviana Foods.

1957

First press, a four-color, Kidder stack press, was installed.

Company moves into new plant in June, and ten employees have the press in operation by July.

1963

Printpack builds new manufacturing plant and headquarters on Wendell Drive in Atlanta, Georgia.

1969

Printpack expands outside of Georgia with a new plant in Grand Prairie, Texas, and installs the industry’s first printer/ adhesive laminator in Atlanta.

1974

Printpack broadens its capabilities with investment in blown film technology.

1978

Printpack makes its first major acquisition: Standard Packaging in Elgin, Illinois, and Clifton, New Jersey, further expanding its capabilities into rotogravure.

1981

Company builds plant in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to serve its Northeast customers.

1982

Printpack expands its film making capabilities by investing in a state-of-the-art, cast coextrusion film manufacturing plant in Atlanta.

1983

Printpack acquires Sigmadyne, its first blown coextrusion plant, located in Richmond, California.

1985

Business Atlanta magazine names Erskine Love as The Atlanta 100 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Printpack wins industry honors for first metallized OPP, snack package.

1986

Company acquires Cloudsley, a competitor located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Printpack installs the industry’s first eight-color, flexographic press in the Atlanta plant.

February 21st, 1987

Erskine Love dies suddenly at home, and his eldest son, Dennis, is named the company’s new president.

1987

Printpack breaks ground for expansion in Fredericksburg, Elgin, and the Atlanta headquarters.

1988

Company builds two new facilities in Villa Rica, Georgia: a converting plant and a cast coextrusion plant.

Printpack acquires Daniels Packaging with plants in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and Hendersonville, North Carolina, extending the company’s reach into the confectionery market.

1990

Printpack builds converting operation in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

1993-1994

Printpack expands into the United Kingdom with the acquisition of Flexpack and Pakcel Ltd.

1994

Printpack’s cast coextrusion operation moves from Villa Rica, Georgia, to Grand Prairie, Texas.

1996

With the purchase of the James River Flexible Packaging operations, Printpack becomes one of America’s two largest flexible packaging converters.

1997

Company continues international expansion in Querétaro, Mexico.

2001

Printpack acquires Independent Packaging in Bloomington, Indiana, to grow the company’s bakery packaging business.

2002

Company designs and builds one-of-a-kind manufacturing plant adjacent to the existing Villa Rica plant.

This plant employs the most up-to-date technology of any flexible packaging plant in the world.

2003

Printpack’s rigid business acquires plant in Newport News, Virginia.

2005

Company’s rigid business expands its specialty rigid business with the acquisition of PBM.

2006

Printpack celebrates its 50th anniversary.

To add shrink sleeve capability, Printpack purchases Seal-it, Inc. in Farmingdale, New York.

2007

Printpack expands its business in Guadalajara, Mexico, with the acquisition of GIPSA.

2009

Printpack constructs a plant in Suzhou, China, in order to expand its rigid business into the Asian market.

2010

Printpack enters the medical packaging market with the purchase of a manufacturing facility in Marshall, North Carolina.

2013-2015

Printpack makes major investment in the recapitalization of the Villa Rica, Grand Prairie, and Rhinelander plants.

With over 3,700 talented

With over 3,700 talented associates worldwide and over a billion dollars in annual sales, Printpack stands ready to meet its customers’ ever changing needs in flexible and specialty rigid packaging.