North Charleston company growing, adds jobs: Coastal Corrugated lands Robert Bosch contract

A Dorchester County packaging maker said Monday it will expand its operations by December, creating 26 new jobs.

Coastal Corrugated Inc. will invest $1.5 million and add 40,000 square feet to its 55,000-square-foot facility in North Charleston after landing a contract with automotive parts maker Robert Bosch.

The deal calls for Coastal Corrugated to produce packaging for specialized components for on-the-hour delivery seven days a week.

The company’s work force will expand to about 70 by the time the Bosch contract starts in early August, said Jim Bozard, founder and chief executive officer of Coastal Corrugated.

The packaging company has supplied Bosch for many years, but the addition will allow it to handle plastic returnable containers on a conveyor system for washing and drying, which it currently can’t do at the plant.

“We are already doing a lot of this off-site at rented space until the expansion is completed,” Bozard said.

With the new line of business, the company on Coosaw Creek Boulevard will surpass its level of business before the financial crash in 2008, he added.

“We continue to see that business coming back online,” Bozard said. “That’s a good thing.”

He said the Charleston area has been very supportive of his company.

“It’s a good business climate,” he added. “This new expansion is an important step for our company as we move forward.”

He declined to say what the pay range is for the new positions, but North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey called them “high-caliber, high-paying jobs.”

The corrugated packaging company, primarily for manufacturers and distributors, first started in Summerville in 1987 before moving to its current location off of Dorchester Road in 1996.

Dorchester County Council Chairman Larry Hargett called the decision to expand a sign of strength for the company.

“Through corporate investments such as this, it is clear that our industries are finding their niche here through low business costs and a growing labor pool,” he said.

Gov. Nikki Haley, in a prepared statement, said improving South Carolina’s economic climate so that more existing businesses can grow and create jobs is a top priority for her administration. The state’s jobless rate stands at 10.5 percent.

Hiring has already begun for the new positions, and many of them have already been filled, Bozard said.