Portco Packaging was established in 1929 in Camas, WA as Perfection Twine Co, which twisted paper twine for the paper carryout bags of the day.
This FTA member’s printing legacy began with 2-color, inline printing on an old St. Regis bag line. It was a paper-based converter at the time, utilizing water-based ink systems on a 6-color stack press. As it expanded into film printing, it added 8- and 10-color central impression (CI) presses with solvent-based ink systems.
The company continues to sell current day versions of the paper bags sold in the 1930s. Today, it serves four primary markets—retail food, institutional food, agriculture and building products. More than 85 percent of the products Portco manufactures are for retail and institutional food applications. While it supplies its US domestic markets on a national level, the higher concentration of business is west of the Rockies.
History of Growth
In 1934, Howard M. Wall Sr. (the father of the company’s current chairman) and an associate bought the company. In 1948, Wall acquired his partner’s interest and the next year changed the name to Portco Corp. In 1949, the business was moved from Camas to Vancouver, WA.
The 1950s and 1960s were a time of expansion for Portco Packaging’s paper and plastic conversion operations. In 1954, the company opened a Los Angeles facility that converted both paper and polyethylene film primarily for the furniture and bedding industries. In 1975, the Vancouver plant was expanded to 160,000 sq. ft. to accommodate two new polyethylene film extrusion lines and bag making equipment to service the lumber, furniture and bedding industries.
The 1980s was a time of even more big changes for the company. In 1983, Portco sold its Los Angeles business, subleased the facility, and concentrated all its manufacturing activities in Vancouver. By early 1986, the company commenced a $6.9 million multi-year capital improvements program, designed to improve its printing capabilities, and expand and upgrade its production capacity. The new equipment included two new polyethylene film extrusion lines, two new 6-color high-speed printing presses and bag making equipment.
With the focus on expanding value-added products in Vancouver, a decision was made to relocate multiwall bag manufacturing to its current location in Toppenish, WA in 2005, which helped to lower the operating costs for bag production and move the business closer to its primary customer base in the city.
In November 2012, the owners purchased property in Woodland, WA to provide for expansion of Portco’s operation. The company fully relocated the Vancouver facility to its current headquarters in Woodland in April 2013 and is continuing to expand its operations today.
In 2021, Portco operates two facilities in Washington totaling roughly 250,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space and employs 135 people on average. The Woodland headquarters serves as the company’s production facility for value-added flexible packaging. Portco’s Toppenish plant is a manufacturing arm producing its full multiwall bag line and printed paper rollstock offerings. Both facilities operate 24 hours per day, five days per week.
Opportunity to Thrive
The company believes it makes the highest-quality, safest flexible packaging in the most responsible way. “By doing so, we strive to help our customers succeed in the marketplace and strengthen their brand,” says Linda Malmstadt, VP of sales and marketing.
Portco Packaging operates with the following ideals in mind:
- Treating the packaging it makes as an ingredient
- Treating its fellow employees, customers, and vendors with respect and honesty
- Striving to continually improve all aspects of its operations and service, knowing that change is the only constant
The company’s vision is to “Create Opportunity to Thrive Together.” “Supporting this vision are our four core values of integrity, engagement, accountability and compassion,” notes Malmstadt. “These values shape our interactions both internally and externally and serve as our guiding principles as we continue to grow our Portco community and expand our operations.”
Quality printing, on-time delivery, customer communication and overall customer satisfaction are priorities for Portco as a customer service-focused business. “We have developed a robust approval process that enables us to meet our customers’ expectations of quality. We know that it is our job to ensure consumer-facing brand images are reproduced correctly and as consistently as possible,” comments Rich Castillo, VP operations and technology.
Process control and process communication are at the heart of Portco’s production system. Everything has been designed to ensure the safest, highest quality products with a high degree of repeatability for its customers. In order to achieve a high level of process control, the company had to standardize its printing systems, training and workflow.
Currently, the single biggest challenges that Portco faces is employee retention and finding skilled operators. “Most of the operators we currently employ have been trained internally,” notes Castillo. “This requires a high level of understanding of both our industry and its best practices and principles, then incorporating the practices into everyday operations.”
Production Priorities
Portco Packaging is currently a 100 percent flexographic print company, but it does partner with other companies occasionally for digital offerings.