MonoSol sold its products from a building on a patch of land on the Lake-Porter border in 1953, six years before Portage became a town and 14 years before it became a city.
Today, the company is a global leader in water-soluble films it began making more than 60 years ago. Consumers use them daily in the form of single-use laundry and dishwasher detergents, such as Tide Pods and Cascade.
Portage and MonoSol, now a division of Japan-based Kuraray Group, cemented their relationship Tuesday, celebrating the opening of a $95 million, 300,000-square-foot DuneLand plant by busting a sake barrel with Gov. Mike Pence and Portage Mayor James Snyder.
P. Scott Bening, MonoSol chief executive officer and president, told the crowd at AmeriPlex at the Port that the firm launched a global search that led it back to Portage, a city strategically located near the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor and interstate highways.
The industrial park sprawls over nearly 400 acres at Interstate 94 and Indiana 249. It's directly east of Catalyst Sports Resort's new $75 million development.
The biggest reason Bening said the company stayed in Portage was the connection to its history and its competent workforce.
"Our roots, natural resource availability, workforce confidence, relationships with service providers and the support from the state of Indiana and city of Portage tipped the scales," he said.
Snyder said manufacturing is part of the fabric in Portage.
"Today is the day that gives hope, excitement and a new future to generations in Portage to come," he said.
Plans call for one manufacturing line starting this year with full-capacity production expected next year. A second line will be added to DuneLand by 2020 and there will be 24-hour continuous operation on both lines, supporting the hiring of 150 line operators, maintenance workers, electricians and mechanics. Once the film is produced and baked in ovens, it's rolled and packaged for transport to industries around the world.
Pence, whose wife, Cheri, led the audience in a Japanese folk song, said Indiana is home to 250 Japanese companies who found a welcoming environment. Bening said the 2012 acquisition by the Kuraray Group allowed MonoSol to expand by 15 percent.
Pence said the Kuraray Group's products have impacted the quality of life around the world and its partnership with MonoSol has "opened up a new door of opportunity," in Portage.
"Truthfully, companies like MonoSol and Kuraray can grow anywhere in the world," said Pence. "It's more than dollars and cents." Pence termed the relationship a "kizuna" or bond. "It's a personal relationship of respect and admiration and a relationship forged on common values, traditions in agriculture and manufacturing and commitment to community."
Masaaki Ito, president of Kuraray Co. Ltd., said the chemical company was founded in 1926 and is a pioneer in the development of environmental-friendly technologies.
Pence, Snyder, Bening, Ito and other officials used wooden mallets to break open the ceremonial sake barrels. The Kagamiwari ceremony represents harmony and good fortune.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. provided MonoSol up to $1,575,000 in conditional tax credits, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company can't claim the incentives. The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority supported the project with a no-interest loan and Portage approved additional incentives.
Christian H. Herrmanns, MonoSol vice president of marketing, said the company is now headquartered in Merrillville, just north of U.S. 30 and east of Broadway. Research and development is anchored at the Merrillville site, Herrmanns said. Besides its two Portage plants, MonoSol has locations in LaPorte, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.