Curtis Packaging Builds On Its Success In Sandy Hook

By Kaaren Valenta

Regional economic development officials came to Newtown last week to get a first-hand look at Curtis Packaging  Corporation, a 156-year-old company that has doubled its business in the last 10 years.

From its beginnings as a manufacturer of combs and buttons from cattle hooves and horns, Curtis Packaging has evolved into a maker of high-quality packaging for the products of such companies as Stanley Tools, Titleist, Gillette, Readers Digest, and Topps. Cosmetics, perfumes, and toys – including the original Cabbage Patch dolls – arrive at the stores in boxes designed and created by Curtis Packaging.

The company, located between Berkshire Road (Route 34) and Toddy Hill Road in Sandy Hook, is the town’s eighth largest taxpayer. Assessed at $6,010,390, Curtiss Packaging paid $191,130 in taxes this year including $126,360 for the buildings and land; $64,096 for equipment, and $590 for vehicles.

“This is an example of a great company tucked away in the Connecticut woods. A lot of peope don’t know that this is in their backyard,” said Stephen Bull, president of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, who took the tour with James Bellano, director of the Housetonic Valley Economic Development Partnership; Tracia Farin and attorney Ann Ragusa, representing the Newtown Chamber of Commerce; First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, and Elizabeth Stocker, Newtown’s director of community development.

Don Droppo, who has owned Curtis Packaging for 12 years, said the firm spent $8 million on two printing presses during the past five years and also added a $1.5 million die cutter, all of which operate with computer-assisted controls.

“We are producing twice as much as 10 years ago with the same number of employees,” Mr Droppo said.

The 150 employees work three eight-hour shifts, providing maximum efficiency for the facility.

Last year, while the company was purchasing a $4.5 million seven-color press, it also was building a 40,000-square-foot, $1.2 million warehouse addition to the 150,000 square foot plant. The addition replaced a warehouse that the company had rented in Waterbury for many years.

“We’re not paying rent on someone else’s warehouse, and we’re not paying to ship everything by truck to Waterbury,” Mr Droppo said. “Plus once the inventory was all stored here, and we saw how much we had, we’ve done a better job at controlling it.”

Recently Curtis Corporation began marketing a 12-lot Curtis Corporate Park for commercial/light industrial uses on land adjacent to its factory/warehouse complex. Curtiss is keeping a 13th lot in the 49-acre subdivision for its own use. The development site is a mined-out sand and gravel quarry. The company will donate Curtis Pond, a 10-acre dammed pond on the eastern edge of the site, to the Newtown Forest Association for passive recreation. Curtis also will give the association the dam that holds back the pond.

The town’s land use regulations allow a variety of uses in such an industrial park, including offices, publishing firms, shopping centers, plus various light industrial uses including manufacturing, packaging, bottling, assembly, wholesaling, and bulk storage, among others.