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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | D e c e m b e r 2 0 2 1 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 7 By Christina H. Davis A s people's reliance on shopping online grows, so too does the need for more packaging. Boxes of every shape and size arrive on Connecticut door- steps everyday. Soon, what's in those boxes, keeping those goods safe during transit, may be dreamed up in Shelton. Ranpak, a 50-year-old packag- ing company based in Ohio, re- cently announced plans to build an 80,000-square-foot building in Shelton to house its innovation and automation center. But what exactly is there le to inno- vate when it comes to packaging? A lot, according to Bill Drew, Ranpak's senior vice president and CFO. Ranpak's business model has histori- cally been to provide its customers with a machine that produces paper pack- aging material, while charging for the paper product the machine uses. "We make the money on the consum- able," Drew explained. But Ranpak has begun to expand its product offerings. "We are now getting much more into automation," he said. To that end, Ranpak has acquired a minority stake in a company called Pickle Robot, a Cambridge-based startup that was founded by MIT grads. e company is designing robots with artificial intelligence that are capable of not only unloading a trailer, but also sorting packages. "People are having such a hard time hiring right now, these types of solu- tions are really in demand," Drew said. Ranpak also has a minority interest in a German company called Creapaper GmbH that is turning grass into paper. Traditionally, paper is made from wood pulp, but Creapaper is using grass to make pellets that can be mixed with wood pulp to produce products like paper towels and toilet tissue with a smaller carbon footprint. Next generation packaging e new Shelton facility, which is currently being built and should be completed in 2022, will house some office space as well as 50,000 square feet for manufacturing assembly. ere will also be an area for a research and development lab that includes artificial intelligence and machine learning appli- cations for the packaging space. e plan is to have customers visit the Shelton facility to see what cut- ting-edge technologies Ranpak has to offer. To develop those technologies, Ranpak will be hiring. "at's one of the reasons why we chose Connecticut, because these are very sophisticated solutions that require high-end engineering and R&D," Drew said. "We need access to a high-quality and highly-skilled workforce." Drew said Ranpak had considered locating its new lab in northern Virgin- ia where it already has operations, but in the end Connecticut was the better location. One of the groups involved in selling Connecticut as a prime location for Ranpak was AdvanceCT, which oper- ates alongside the Department of Eco- nomic and Community Development (DECD) to align various stakehold- ers including developers, municipal leaders and the state to help facilitate business growth. "We went into overdrive to figure out what they were looking for, what was important to them, and to basically help them explore various options," said Peter Denious, president and CEO of AdvanceCT. AdvanceCT is the newly rebrand- ed and retooled successor to CERC. e name change took effect in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Denious said the flow of new businesses into the state pretty much came to a halt with the shutdown in March 2020, but since the fall of last year, Advan- ceCT had quar- ter-over-quarter growth of inbound inquiries from businesses like Ranpak looking to locate or expand in the Nutmeg State. Denious noted that Ranpak's mission of making packaging greener fits nicely with Connecticut's focus "on reduc- ing waste and being environmentally conscious." "We're very excited about what they're doing," Denious said. Denious also noted that Ranpak has applied to DECD for incentives and "those discussions are underway." Local impact For its part, the city of Shelton is pleased to see Ranpak find a home in Fairfield County. "It fits in perfect" with the city's eco- nomic development strategy, according to Shelton Mayor Mark A. Lauretti. Other businesses that are located near Ranpak's new building include global companies like Pitney Bowes and Hub- bell, as well as smaller manufacturers like Mercantile Development. R.D. Scinto of Shelton is the owner of the land — at 57 Waterview Dr. — and is the builder on the Ranpak project. Robert Scinto, CEO and chairman of R.D. Scinto, said his company has owned the par- cel for 25 years. He had hoped to develop it into 250,000 square feet of office space. "e land is the highest point in Fairfield County," Scinto said. "But the office market is not expanding right now and warehouse space is at a premium." e Ranpak building broke ground in October and will be completed in about 12 months. Drew said the team in Shelton will be close to 35 employees when it opens, with the goal of reaching between 80 and 100 workers. However, he acknowl- edged the challenges in hiring right now. "It's a hot market and the competition for talent is challenging," he said, adding that Ranpak's commitment to innova- tion should be a draw for new hires. "People are excited about what we're doing," he said. Ranpak had been owned by a private equity firm for almost 20 years. It went public in June 2019, when it was ac- quired by a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) named One Madison Corp. Since then, Drew said the company's headcount has grown from 550 people to 850. Ranpak operates throughout the United States and in 50 countries around the globe. For the quarter ending Sept. 30, the company reported net revenue of $97.1 million and a net loss of $1.4 million. n S t a r t u p s , T e c h n o l o g y & I n n o v a t i o n A t A G l a n c e Company: Ranpak Industry: Sustainable packaging Top Executive: Omar Asali, CEO & Chairman HQ: Ohio Company Website: https://www.ranpak.com/ Phone Number: 1-440-354-4445 Global packaging innovator Ranpak picks Shelton for innovation hub PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Peter Denious Mark A. Lauretti Bill Drew is the senior vice president and CFO of Ohio-based Ranpak, which is establishing an innovation center in Shelton.

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