Montgomery manufacturer to invest $1.6M to increase capacity

ESS Technologies, which specializes in packaging line design, equipment manufacturing and integration for the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmetic and consumer packaging goods industries, will invest $1.6 million to increase capacity at a new facility in Montgomery County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. 

The new facility will be located in the former Jeld-Wen building on Scattergood Drive in Christiansburg, according to Katie Boswell, executive director of Onward New River Valley, a regional economic development organization.

A subsidiary of New York-based Pacteon Group, ESS Technologies will close operations in Pembroke and Blacksburg and consolidate them at the Christiansburg facility, which will be 40,000 square feet, according to a news release. The project is expected to create 27 jobs. 

“Pacteon is proud of the growth trajectory of ESS Technologies,” Pacteon Group CEO Mike Odom said in the release. 

In 2021, EES Technologies opened a satellite facility in Pembroke, which offered additional office and manufacturing space, according to a company press release. In 2023, EES Technologies held a ribbon cutting to celebrate a 12,000-square-feet expansion of the Pembroke facility. 

Founded in 1993 in Blacksburg, ESS Technologies designs, builds and integrates automatic cartoners, case packers, robotic palletizers, and robotic systems. 

“As a business with a long history in Virginia’s New River Valley, we are pleased they have chosen to retain and increase jobs in the region,” Boswell said in a statement released by the governor’s office. 

Pacteon acquired ESS Technologies in 2021. Requests for comment to Pacteon Group, ESS Technologies and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership were not immediately returned Wednesday.