Nolato

Company Background

Contour Plastics was founded in 1990 in a shed in Hammond, Wisconsin. As it grew its profile in the medical device market, the company expanded significantly, and moved into a state-of-the-art facility in Baldwin, with a 43,000-square-foot addition completed in 2008. In 2010, Contour Plastics was purchased by Nolato, a Swedish company with facilities throughout Europe. This was the first U.S.-based facility for Nolato, which produces a wide variety of polymer products including pharmaceutical packaging, medical containers and supplies, and other components for industrial, laboratory and medical settings.

Investment Objectives

The acquisition of Contour Plastics for $22 million allowed Nolato to establish a North American production base. Now called Nolato Contour, the company is embarking on another expansion, and plans to add more than 27,000 square feet to its facility—two 5,000-square-foot cleanrooms plus additional space for material handling and warehousing. To support this expansion, Nolato’s Wisconsin facility expects to add 62 new full-time positions in addition to the current 160 full-time employees.

Why Wisconsin?

As an incentive for Nolato’s planned capital investment of $17.9 million as well as the planned job creation, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is providing the company with $250,000 in performance-based tax credits, contingent on actual capital investment and job creation. In addition, Nolato was drawn to Wisconsin’s strong manufacturing sector, supported by a favorable tax environment and support for workforce development and training.