Avery Dennison recently expanded its Chester Street campus in Painesville, adding jobs and capacity to its Performance Tapes division. Related Articles Local News | Adam Dudziak, Lake County Commissioner candidate, November 2024 Local News | Richard J. Regovich, Lake County Commissioner candidate, November 2024 Local News | National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day set for Oct. 26 Local News | Day of the Dead to be celebrated in Downtown Willoughby Local News | Morley Public Library hosting award-winning true crime author Jane Ann Turzillo Production in the approximately 32,000-square-foot space began in August, said David Collins, vice president and general manager for Avery Dennison Performance Tapes North America. He expects that the new space will add about 36 jobs. “We wanted to grow, first and foremost, and we wanted to basically increase our capabilities with a state-of-the-art asset,” Collins said. The expanded facility will mainly work on “pressure-sensitive specialty tapes” for clients in North America, he said. The tapes that it manufactures are used for items like cars, industrial packaging, building and construction. “You typically would find these if you took apart, I would say, different things that you might buy out there where a tape is holding things together or providing some sort of additional benefits in terms of noise dampening, vibration dampening,” Collins said. “Sometimes, electrical, dielectric strength, flame retardancy.” The company first announced the new facility expansion in 2021. It said in a news release that it had received support from Painesville, JobsOhio and regional economic development organization TeamNEO. Avery Dennison’s recently-expanded Performance Tapes facility in Painesville is pictured. Production started in the 32,000 square foot facility in August 2024, according to a company representative. (Courtesy of Jim Brazytis, Avery Dennison) Collins described recent improvements to Chester Street as “a perfect example” of how the city supported the company with infrastructure improvements. “It was a little bit like an off-road course before and now we have a nice new road and improved infrastructure as well to support the needs of that,” he said. The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility at the end of September. According to Collins, the company has a long history in the city. “Our business is in Painesville, and it just made sense to leverage that and all the skill sets that we have in Painesville from a people standpoint, relationship with the city and the county standpoint,” he said. “And obviously the partnership we have made it, I wouldn’t say a no-brainer, but made it an easy decision.” He said that the company has already filled 25 of the expected 36 jobs at the new site. “We still have 10-plus open positions that we are continuing to look to fill, with a great opportunity for people to learn and develop a skill set associated with it,” Collins said. “These are not easy things to work on,” he added. “Usually, our training program can be anywhere from three to six months in order for somebody to properly run the equipment with a team, and this equipment takes a team of people to run. It’s valuable skills for both us but also for the individual as they progress with a career.” Avery Dennison Senior Human Resources Manager Erica Schleicher said that people looking to apply for a job at the company can visit its website, averydennison.com, and view the career page. Applicants can also request to receive job notifications when a position tied to their interests becomes open. “We’re extremely excited about having this. We’re extremely excited about the opportunities it provides us, and really look forward to continuing to create more jobs in the area as we grow,” Collins said. “These type of things, you build them, they don’t fill themselves automatically on day one, so there’s a nice runway here for us to continue to grow and be part of the city of Painesville,” he added.