Menasha Corporation on November 11 announced that it plans to install five wind turbines for electrical generation at its office and manufacturing complex on the southwest side of Neenah, Wis., along Highway 41. The installation of five wind turbines is the largest announced by a business to date in northeastern Wisconsin.
“Our renewable energy project is part of the corporation’s support of alternative energy solutions and our focus on becoming a leader in sustainability,” said Jim Kotek, Menasha Corporation’s president and CEO. “Earlier this year, we identified sustainability as one of the critical areas in which Menasha must step forward and take a market leadership position. We have now made an important commitment to our community, customers, employees and shareholders by demonstrating that we are serious about improving the environment by using clean energy sources.”
Menasha Corporation is purchasing five 20-kilowatt wind turbines from Renewegy LLC in Oshkosh, Wis., which specializes in manufacturing wind energy turbines. The turbines are expected to produce enough electrical power to provide for the basic office needs for the 115 employees at the headquarters of the Corporation and Menasha Packaging.
“Both of our companies – Menasha Packaging, which provides paper-based packaging solutions and ORBIS Corporation, which supplies reusable plastic packaging – have been collaborating with our customers to provide innovative packaging and supply chain solutions that help build a sustainable future,” added Mike Waite, president of Menasha Packaging. “The turbine project adds wind energy to the list of sustainability projects we have undertaken in our operations over the past couple of years to lessen our impact on the environment. From corrugator upgrades to high efficiency lighting to capturing the latent heat coming off our corrugators to heat other parts of the building, we’ve made significant advancements in reducing our carbon footprint.”
In addition to the renewable energy project, the company is also implementing a number of energy-saving electrical improvements at its Neenah office.
The construction of the five wind turbines for Menasha Corporation will make a total of 20 installations made by Renewegy. Jeff Ehlers, president of Renewegy, said, “We are very pleased to be partnering with Menasha Corporation on the new installations. Wind is the lowest-cost renewable energy source available to us in the Midwest and installations such as this bring increased attention to the opportunities we have to take advantage of a natural resource that will always be here and one that’s free to use.”
Menasha Corporation has received approval from the City of Neenah’s Planning Department for the project and has also completed a site assessment. The company expects to begin construction on footings for the turbines by mid-November; the project will be completed by the end of the year. The turbines will be installed in the greenway between Menasha Packaging’s manufacturing plant and its north office building on Bergstrom Road.
About Menasha Corporation
Menasha Corporation is a packaging, logistics and marketing services company based in Neenah, Wisconsin. Established in 1849, it is one of America’s oldest privately held manufacturing companies and specializes in corrugated packaging, and high-quality point-of-purchase displays, plastic returnable packaging, in-store consumer promotion and pharmaceutical labeling and packaging. The company has more than 3,200 employees in facilities in North America.
