RockTenn today celebrates the grand opening of its new Marion, N.C., folding carton facility, which produces consumer packaging for the beauty and other industries.

“Last summer, Governor Perdue joined us to announce the expansion of our operations here in Marion,” said Mike Kiepura, RockTenn president, consumer packaging. “Today, it’s just as exciting to be back in North Carolina to see the culmination of everyone’s hard work and to open a new facility that will provide our customers with innovative, value-added products.”

RockTenn has invested almost $25 million in the new Marion facility, which completes its first full month of production on March 31. The plant will add a total of 124 jobs with an average annual wage that is 10 percent more than current average for McDowell County.

“We would like to extend our thanks to all of the dedicated people at the city, county, state and other associations that made today possible,” said Steve Harrell, General Manager of the Marion plant. “Our goal is to continue to be the low-cost provider of folding cartons in the selected value-added markets that Marion targets, and this expansion allows us to focus on achieving that goal while better serving our customers.”