Chicago firm opens Bristol plant

Updated with more info about hires so far: Nosco Inc., a carton and label maker with offices in Gurnee and Waukegan, Ill., says it plans to hire a total of 51 workers over three years at a computer-controlled "On Demand Solutions Center" in Bristol, Pa., that will make drug packaging. A few workers have been moved to Bristol from Nosco plants in Illinois and Texas, and the first few Pennsylvanians have been hired for the new staff, James Struhar, Nosco's General Manager of East Coast operations, told me. Jobs pay in the $15 to $30 an hour range.

Pennsylvania has offered Nosco $255,000 from its Pennsylvania First business subsidy program and $22,000 for worker training, according to the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Gov. Corbett's office says Nosco is investing $7 million in digital printing systems and other equipment at the site.

Select Greater Philadelphia, a siting service affiliated with Philadelphia's chamber of commerce, says it helped Corbett's local business staff and Bucks County officials find the site. In a statement, Nosco president Russ Haraf said his company picked the site because it is near many drugmakers. He also credited "the skilled labor force in Bristol and the surrounding communities."

The plant finished its first business order last week for NJ-based drugmaker Alvogen, according to a statement by James Struhar, Nosco's General Manager of East Coast Operations.Nosco is owned by Holden Industries, which is wholly-owned through an employee stock-ownership program, spokeswoman Gabriela Giarratana told me.