Packaging company to open Whitestown factory, hire up to 43 workers

Opus Packaging Group, a Michigan-based maker of cardboard boxes and other packaging materials, said Tuesday that it will invest $3 million to open a factory in Whitestown.

The 170,000-square-foot facility, to be built in Park 130, is expected to create up to 43 jobs by 2022.

Caledonia, Michigan-based Opus currently employs 375 at facilities in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois.

"Opening our new manufacturing facility in Boone County greatly enhances our ability to better serve our customers as we expand our reach in the Midwest,” Butch Stoner, Opus’ co-owner, said in a statement.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Opus up to $240,000 in tax credits based on its job-creation plans. The credits are performance-based, meaning the company can’t claim them until workers are hired.

Opus is the second packaging maker this spring to announce plans for a Boone County factory.

Washington, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Corrugated said in April that it plans to spend $75 million to open a 470,000-square-foot facility in Lebanon and hire 140 workers.