Loan Convinces Firm Not to Leave State

A plastics company that was considering relocating to Utah will instead remain in Ventura County and expand its work force after receiving a $1-million, low-interest loan Tuesday from the state.

The money--to be repaid over 10 years at a 5.7% interest rate--comes from a California program designed to promote environmentally clean industry and economic development, according to David Roberti, former president pro tem of the state Senate, who is now a member of the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

Roberti presented the $1-million check to Paul Strong, president of Poly-Tainer Inc. The manufacturing company, headquartered at 2220 Shasta Way off Easy Street, will consolidate its three Simi Valley buildings into a new 100,000-square-foot facility elsewhere in the city.

“We did not want to leave this valley,” Strong told a group of city and county officials at the presentation, including Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis, City Manager Mike Sedell and Councilman Glen Becerra. “Through your efforts, you’ve convinced me that you do value my business.”

Company officials had been looking at a new location in southern Utah for Poly-Tainer, which uses recycled plastic to make products for cosmetic companies, toy manufacturers and others. The company, which opened in 1962 at a Van Nuys factory, was almost lured away by cheaper real estate and tax incentives, Strong said.

The loan and the planned expansion will allow Poly-Tainer to increase the amount of recycled plastics it uses in its products from 10% to 25%, Strong said.

The company currently employs 240 workers--mostly from Simi Valley, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks--and hopes the expansion will allow it to soon hire about 30 more.

Through the state loan program, more than 60 environmentally friendly companies have received about $31 million, said Eric Lamoreux, a spokesman for the Integrated Waste Management Board.