How a packaging firm is finding talent to grow in the IE

When ePac Flexible Packaging decided to establish its largest state-of-the-art production facility in San Bernardino County, it knew it was pioneering new ground when it came to finding the right employees.

The company was new, the technology was new, the business model was new – focused on producing premium, digitally printed, flexible product packaging for small and mid-sized companies.

“Ours is not a traditional legacy model. We’re a disruptor, and most of who we hire don’t have experience in the industry. We’re looking for people with the fire and drive to take on new challenges,” said Frank Velazquez, General Manager of the ePac’s 25,000-square-foot Chino plant.

Working with InTech – Chaffey College’s Industrial Technical Learning Center – ePac began an internship program that has helped it identify and help train workers on the next-generation equipment and systems the company is using to help reshape the consumer-packaged goods industry.

So far, two interns have been hired and two more are in training. Within two years, ePac plans to have 70 employees at its Chino facility – many of them developed and hired through the InTech program.

Partnerships such as this are among the many competitive advantages San Bernardino County offers innovative businesses when it comes to meeting their labor needs. The county’s location, high quality of life and growing economic opportunities have made it one of the most dynamic population centers in the United States, with projected growth of 32% over the next 25 years, according to the Southern California Association of Governments.

With a median age of 33.5 and 26% of the population under the age of 18, the county is one of the youngest in California, which creates tremendous opportunity when it comes to preparing current and future workers for 21st century employment opportunities.

At the center of all of this is the San Bernardino County Workforce Development Board (WDB), which works with businesses, education and community-based organizations to strengthen the skills of the county’s workforce through partnerships, training and placement programs, and career-development initiatives.

“San Bernardino County and the Inland Empire are uniquely positioned to become the economic and employment hub for Southern California,” said Phil Cothran, WDB Chairman. “We’re reinventing how schools, businesses and the public sector can work together to build stronger, more prosperous communities – recognizing that our collective might is far greater than the sum of our parts.”

For ePac, the ability to identify, develop and ultimately recruit workers has created high expectations for the Chino operations – as the largest of the company’s regionally based manufacturing facilities being planned across the country.

“We’ve got a central location, a building that was a great fit and an amazing radius of talent to draw from,” Velazquez said.