Great Northern has a long history in the packaging, POP merchandising, and protective packaging markets. Here is a look at some of our major events over the past 60 years.
The Founders
In 1962, social acquaintances Jim Davis, Bob Brown, and John Maring took a gamble on a new corrugated box business with each contributing funds to start the company. They named it Great Northern Container. Davis, who was previously associated with Marathon Division of American Can Co. was elected president of the Corporation. Brown had experience in sales at Wisconsin Container Corp., Menasha, and was elected vice president and secretary. Maring was previously sales manager of the Menasha Wooden Ware Corp.’s corrugated plant and was elected vice president and sales manager at Great Northern.
The Firsts
The First Employees
Great Northern’s initial work crew consisted of 15-18 employees as company slowly grew to fill out an eight-hour shift. By 1965, the operation had three shifts working to fulfill orders.
The First Customers
One of Great Northern’s first customers was Presto Products located in Appleton. Presto was a private label plastic bag and wrap manufacturer with customers like Sears, A&P, and Shop Rite. Great Northern provided a variety of packaging solutions for their products. Presto continues as a customer of Great Northern today. Other customers included Borden in Plymouth, WI, and Ripon Foods, a snack item manufacturer in Ripon, WI.
The First Facility
Soon after Great Northern Container was founded, construction on a 30,000 sq ft plant was started on Stroebe Road in Appleton, WI. Until the plant was complete, the first offices were located on East Wisconsin Ave. in Neenah, WI. According to Bob Brown, “In the early days, we would go get the orders and then find someone to manufacture the containers for us and ship them.”
The original manufacturing plant was a 30,000-square-foot building constructed on farmland. Two more additions would take place over the years, bringing the first building to over 180,000 square feet. This allowed Great Northern, then known as Great Northern Container, to provide finishing work on corrugate sheets that were purchased.
The First Expansion
In 1975, the 390 Stroebe Road building that housed our first corrugator was constructed across the street from the main plant. The original 80,000 sq ft $3 million plant underwent a 90,000 sq ft, $7 million expansion in 1985. Brown recalled, “We started as a sheet plant that was a pretty basic operation where you buy paper from other companies that combine the paper into corrugate.” The plant supplied corrugate sheets for both the Appleton and Racine operation which opened in 1969.
Through The Years
1962
Great Northern Corporation is founded
1964
Great Northern Plastics is established
1967
30,000 sq ft facility opened in Racine, WI to broaden our geographic reach. Among our first customers was Western Publishing who produced Golden Books
1973
Great Northern forms a joint venture with Hayes Manufacturing named Laminations Corporation
1976
Specialty Group is formed with Rollguard® and Custom Packaging
1976
Corrugator installed in new 80,000 sq ft facility in Appleton, WI
1979
Great Northern changes name to Great Northern Corporation as company expands into new markets and product lines
1980
Great Northern sells its plastics facility to Tuscarora, Inc.
1985
A state of the art package testing facility is established in Appleton
1986
90,000 sq ft corrugating and conversion facility expansion in Appleton leads the industry in automation and modernization
1987
Great Northern celebrates its 25 year anniversary and installs cellular phones in company vehicles
1994
Racine expands with 108,000 sq. ft. addition
1995
Acquires Laminations, an industry leader in edge protection
1998
Laminations adds a manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, FL and the following year moves its headquarters to Appleton
1998
Racine facility expands again with 90,000 sq ft addition
2004
Acquired Kell Container in Chippewa Falls, WI
2004
Opened StrataGraph in Oshkosh, WI
2007
Opened New Jersey-based design center
2008
Acquired Creative Carton in Minneapolis, MN
2010
First of two HP digital presses installed in Chippewa Falls, WI
2016
Two Ward ServoGraphix Flexo presses and Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 162 Litho press installed
2016
Great Northern Corporation becomes Great Northern
2017
Great Northern acquires United Displaycraft, a manufacturer of permanent displays, expanding our retail portfolio
2017
HP High Speed Web Digital press installed in Oshkosh, WI
2017
Laminations introduces SURECrate®, a custom-engineered, recyclable packaging solution that eliminates the need for wood crating
2018
Great Northern becomes part of the APASS (Amazon Packaging Support and Supplier) Network which certifies our packaging materials, design services, and testing meet Amazon’s requirements
2018
Laminations launches SUREContainer®, an innovative packaging and storage solution that provides a more ergonomic and safer way for workers to efficiently load contents within a large container
2019
Chicago receives two major pieces of equipment with the addition of an automated tube laser and a materials handling system for the fiber laser
2019
Fiber Interior Packaging is created to serve the e-commerce market with a fiber-based, biodegradable interior product protection solution
2019
Great Northern invests in upgrading its test lab to be ISTA 6 compliant, allowing for testing of protective packaging that meets Amazon’s Frustration-Free Packaging initiative
2020
The Great Northern Leadership Academy is launched. By the end of 2020, over 120 Great Northern team members will go through the program. Subsequent modules are developed and delivered annually
2022
StrataGraph brand merged with Great Northern Packaging group
2022
Laminations launches E-Board®, a recyclable edge protection solution for the e-commerce market
