Story Photos
 Photo by Roger Werth Gov. Chris Gregoire, center right, is flanked by Jim Cameron, president and chief executive officer of Cameron Family Glass Packaging (holding a bottle), and other local officials at the Port of Kalama Thursday. |
Kalama plant has Super Bowl link
Thursday, June 28, 2007 11:14 PM PDT
By Evan Caldwell
Printable version
E-mail this articleLike fine wine, the story behind a Pennsylvania family's decision to build a $109 million wine bottle factory in Kalama is complex.
It starts back at the 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit.
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire joined an old friend, federal judge D. Michael Fisher, in watching the Seattle Seahawks play the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During the action, Fisher mentioned that he knew a fellow Pennsylvania family that wanted to build a wine bottle plant.
"He said they were probably going to Oregon because they make good wine there," Gregoire said Thursday. "I said, 'No, we make the best wine.' So I gave them a call when I got back home."
Gregoire's call to the Cameron family kicked off a process that helped the group choose Kalama over sites in Nevada and Oregon.
On Thursday, Gregoire, the Cameron family and nearly 200 area leaders held a groundbreaking ceremony for the wine bottle plant at the Port of Kalama.
"We started in Nevada, but what drove us up here are the low electricity prices," said Jim Cameron, president and chief executive officer of Cameron Family Glass Packaging. "It was a real big deal to have the state and the governor's office involved. Today is a very exciting day."
The plant will be located on 12.8 acres in the southwest corner of the port's Kalama River Industrial Park. In May, the Camerons signed a 50-year lease with the port worth more than $100,000 a year, which will be adjusted in five years and every 10 years after that.
"We are building an amazing infrastructure for a new industry," Gregoire said. "Not long ago, we had about 10 wineries in the state, now we have over 500."
Jim Lucas, president of the Port of Kalama commission, said the new industry helps diversify the local manufacturing mix.
"When some clients suffer because of a down cycle, this will help keeps jobs here and the local economy stable," Lucas said.
The plant, which the Camerons say will create about 90 family-wage jobs, also could attract subsidiary industries, such as an etching company, port spokeswoman Merry Swanberg said.
Corey Balkan, vice president of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council, has worked with the Cameron family on the Kalama plant and was surprised by the teamwork from government agencies involved in the deal.
"In my 12 years here, I've seen very, very few projects garner this much support from everyone involved," Balkan said.
Longview contractor JH Kelly started building the 175,000 square-foot plant a month ago, and the facility should be producing glass bottles by late 2008.
The plant's electric furnace will be the largest anywhere for wine bottle production and will be powered by Cowlitz PUD, which gets the majority of its electricity from hydroelectric dams.
"Our furnace ... allows us to minimize the impact on the environment because there are no harmful emissions," said Donald Cameron, the Cameron's Chairman of the Board. "By comparison, similar facilities operate furnaces that are powered by fossil fuel, which produce harmful greenhouse emissions and are subject to the ever-rising price of natural gas."
The plant's wine bottles will be made at least in part from recycled glass from Washington and Oregon. The company plans to launch recycling programs in surrounding communities where glass is being dumped into landfills.
The company also will recycle all water used during the glass making process. For more information, visit www.cameronfamilyglass.com/.
"We are proud to be chosen as the home for Cameron Glass," Lucas told the crowd. "... Things are getting better for the port, the city, the county and the state."
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