Italian manufacturer picks Visalia for U.S. site

VISALIA
June 7, 2012 12:55pm

A company that describes itself as “the world's largest supplier of turn key packaging and palletizing lines for the fresh fruit and vegetable industries” is opening a manufacturing and printing plant in Visalia.

Sorma USA, a division of The Sorma Group of Italy, plans to move into the new 40,000-square-foot building in the Visalia Industrial Park in August.

CEO Marco Bini says the plant will initially employ ten people when it opens, expanding to 35 people once the plant hits full production with two shifts.

The Visalia plant will serve the United States, Canada and Mexico, printing and assembling packaging material for produce and assembling industrial automated packing equipment.

The company has manufacturing plants in Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Turkey. Visalia was chosen due to its location “in the center of the world’s premier agricultural region,” says Mr. Bini, “and the availability of both modern infrastructure and skilled labor.”

Sorma will train local workers to be future technicians or have other opportunities to work with the packinghouses in the region, he says. “We are very happy to be in Visalia and we want to be part of the community.”

Commercial realtor Doug Burr, staff members of the city of Visalia, the Tulare County Economic Development Corporation and Hobbs Container Co. of Exeter, helped bring the new employer to Visalia.