GSBDC Nominee Jordan Box Company Selected for Award

Richard Casper, owner and president of Jordan Box Company, Inc., was recently selected to receive the Veteran Owned Business Achievement Award. He was nominated by the Greater Syracuse Business Development Corporation (GSBDC), an affiliate of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. The award was presented at the Operation: Start Up & Grow 2009 Veterans Business Conference on March 19, 2009 at Onondaga Community College.

Casper, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy received his degree in Operations Analysis in 1974, and served as an ensign with the Atlantic Fleet until 1978. He began his civilian career with Corning Inc. after his honorable discharge in 1979. His preparation for entrepreneurship came through his many leadership roles in operations efficiency and quality management.

Casper purchased Jordan Box Company, Inc. in 1992 from the grandsons of Charles L. Jordan, the founder of the business, which has been a leading manufacturer of paperboard packaging in Syracuse since 1901. They specialize in make-to-order rigid set up boxes. In 2006, Casper purchased a state of the art production line that allows for very quick set up and processing of custom orders, large and small. This allows them to be very competitive on runs as small as 100 pieces and as large as 100,000 pieces.

The leased space Jordan Box had occupied for the past 15 years was extremely inadequate. While they had been resourceful and creative, they were handling raw material and !nished product many times over, moving it between three $oor levels. Using the leadership skills developed through his military, and prior manufacturing experience, Casper engaged his employees, many who come from surrounding neighborhoods, to GSBDC Nominee Jordan Box Company Selected for Award work with a positive attitude, in the spirit of teamwork under adversity. Throughout this period, Casper continued to grow the company by providing a consistently superior product and reliable service as a result of his efforts.

Casper began searching for a permanent home for his company which would consolidate all operations on one floor for a more efficient $ow of process. A building was identified and the process to purchase and renovate was set into motion in 2007. With the assistance of M&T Bank and GSBDC using the SBA 504 Program, the transaction was completed in 2008. The immense task of moving the entire operation to the new location was coordinated by Casper and has been a welcome, privately funded investment to the area known as the Near West Side Neighborhood.

Customers come from a diverse array of manufacturers and distributors, including those in the candle, medical, office supply and cutlery industries. Most customers are located in Central New York and range from small local companies to those recognized around the world. The company sees additional opportunity in the northeast with the efficiency they have achieved at the new location. With the expected improvement in the economy, additional employment opportunities are anticipated.