Henkel Corp. – whose aggressive growth strategy since purchasing Sun Products in 2016 earned the laundry products company the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award last year – is growing again, this time in partnership with another local company.

Germany-based Henkel, already the largest employer in the South Industrial Park with 800 full-time and 170 part-time workers at its Southwood Court plant, is partnering with packaging supplier ALPLA Inc. in an investment expected to create as many as 60 jobs for ALPLA.

Henkel, which makes Snuggle, Persil and other laundry products, was already investing in infrastructure and equipment at its 2.3 million-square-foot plant to improve production.

Now Henkel and Austria-based ALPLA will join forces to build a 170,000-square-foot packaging operation on the Henkel campus.

The investment, which will total some $130 million between the two partners, continues a history of cooperation between Henkel and ALPLA.

ALPLA moved into a 105,000-square-foot speculative building in the Kentucky Transpark in northern Warren County in 2013 and began supplying plastic bottles to Sun Products.

The company’s original employment target was 72, but it announced a $6.9 million expansion last year that was expected to create another 24 jobs.

This newest expansion on the Henkel campus is expected to create another 60 jobs after the plant is completed next year.

“ALPLA is a family-owned business and has been manufacturing bottles for more than 60 years,” ALPLA Chief Financial Officer Philipp Lehner said in a news release. “We are pleased to build on our presence in the Bowling Green area and expand our 34-year global partnership with Henkel.”

Although it’s a multinational company, Henkel has a strong presence in the United States. According to its website, Henkel’s North American sales of about $6 billion in 2018 account for 25 percent of the company’s global sales.

“The United States is one of Henkel’s biggest and most important markets, and the company has continuously strengthened its position here through nearly $5 billion in investments over the past four years,” Stephan Fuesti-Molnar, Henkel’s North American president for consumer goods, said in a news release. “This new investment at our flagship laundry detergent production facility will help us build on our strong market position in the U.S.”

Ron Bunch, president and CEO of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, said the partnership between Henkel and ALPLA demonstrates the synergies that exist among local employers.

“Henkel has been a major economic development engine in our community,” Bunch said. “Beyond their direct employment contribution and community service efforts, the investment partnership with ALPLA is a prime example of how the company’s supplier network, especially within the transportation and packaging sectors, further magnifies their economic impact locally.”

To encourage the investment, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority on June 27 preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with ALPLA under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $900,000 in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of over $50 million and the annual target of 60 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 10 years.