Bemis administrators get revamped building
The Bemis Company Inc. has relocated the headquarters offices of its Paper Packaging Division to Omaha from Terre Haute, Ind., bringing five additional administrative jobs to a renovated Falstaff Brewery office. (not going to get too excited about 5 jobs... but perhaps more importantly giving Omaha a leg up on future job growth)
The building's renovation is the second phase of a plan approved by the city in 1998 after Bemis bought 5.9 acres of the brewery, which closed in 1984. The brewery itself was torn down so another portion of the property could be used to build a police precinct station near 25th and Vinton Streets.
Bemis immediately took over a 45,000-square-foot Falstaff warehouse. The office building, which had been condemned by the city, was gutted and given a new roof and floor, then boarded up.
More recently, the office building's exterior brick was cleaned, handicap-accessible ramps were added and the interior had new drywall, electrical and plumbing installed.
"They're getting very positive comments from the neighbors about the upgrades," said Melanie E.R. Miller, Bemis vice president of investor relations.
She declined to say what the renovation cost.
The architectural firm of Bahr, Vermeer and Haecker designed the new offices, and Nielsen-Cady Construction completed the renovation.
The office building, built in 1911, houses seven people, Miller said. It is adjacent to the Bemis-Omaha paper packaging manufacturing operation built in 1978. The Bemis-Omaha plant employs 283, she said, and produces packaging for pet products.
"If you buy Iams or Wal-Mart's brand, Old Roy, all of that is Bemis packaging made in Omaha," Miller said.
The Minneapolis-based Bemis has been manufacturing products in Omaha for more than 100 years. The original Bemis Bag plant was built in 1888 in what is now the Old Market. After Bemis moved in 1978 to south Omaha, the original plant was donated to the city and eventually became home to the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art.
The Bemis Co., which employs 12,000 people in 52 manufacturing facilities in nine countries, reported 2003 sales of $2.6 billion, 75 percent of which were packaging-related.