RockTenn to add 500 jobs in Georgia

In one of the biggest employment boosts for the state this year, RockTenn is consolidating its Chicago and St. Louis operations and bringing 500 new jobs to Georgia.

The move, in which the paperboard and packaging maker also will spend $5 million to expand its corporate headquarters, is fueled by about $15.7 million in incentives from the state and Gwinnett County, officials said.

“RockTenn expanding its corporate headquarters here is big news not only because 500 new jobs will be created, but also because this top Fortune 500 company has chosen Georgia as the best place to keep doing business for years to come,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement.

RockTenn, which also operates a plant in its milling division in Chattanooga, is bringing jobs in accounting, finance, information technology, procurement and supply chain functions to Gwinnett County, the governor’s office said. RockTenn, which has net sales of about $10 billion annually, employs 1,100 Georgians and has a total workforce of about 26,000, including staff in Canada, Mexico and China.

According to the Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development, RockTenn will lease about 68,000 square feet of space at a building in Duluth for the expansion. The facility will house new hires as well as some workers transferring from the company’s Norcross headquarters.

The new jobs and corporate expansion comes seven months after RockTenn bought Chicago-based rival Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. for a reported $3.5 billion.