Walter Packa came home from the Army in 1957 and went to work for a paper distributor in Kansas City. A year later, with $2,400 in savings and a loan co-signed by his father-in-law, he rented a storefront on East 3rd Street in Sedalia and opened Packa Paper & Supply, selling kraft paper, twine, and wrapping supplies to local merchants and farm operations.
Business was steady but not easy. Walter drove his own delivery route in a 1951 Ford pickup, and for the first few years his wife Irene kept the books at the kitchen table. By 1965 the company had outgrown the storefront and moved to a small building on East 3rd Street closer to the rail line, where Walter added a used corrugator and started cutting and gluing his own boxes instead of just reselling paper stock.
Walter's sons, Donald and Gerald, grew up working weekends at the plant and joined the business full time after high school. When Walter passed away in 1978, Donald and Gerald took over and renamed the company Packa Box Company. They expanded into printed cartons in the early 1980s and added a second shift to keep up with orders from the growing furniture and agricultural supply trade around west-central Missouri.
The company incorporated as Packa Corporation in 1991 and built the current plant on East 3rd Street two years later. A second building was added in 2006 to house the flexo printer and die-cutting equipment.
Steve Packa, Walter's grandson, has served as President since 2003. Karen Wills, who started on the production floor in 1988, has been Vice President of Operations since 2011. Between the two of them and a management team that has mostly been here fifteen years or longer, the company has grown to 118 employees across a 212,000 square foot facility, shipping corrugated packaging and related products to customers in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
We still get asked sometimes if we're related to the Packa family that used to run the hardware store on Ohio Avenue. We are — that was Walter's brother Frank.
Walter Packa outside his brother Frank's hardware store on Ohio Avenue, around 1958. It's one of the few photos of Walter we have from those years.
Our current production floor on East 3rd Street.
Walter Packa opens Packa Paper & Supply on East 3rd Street in Sedalia, selling paperboard, twine and wrapping supplies.
Company moves to a larger building near the rail line and buys its first corrugator, beginning in-house box manufacturing.
Walter Packa passes away. Sons Donald and Gerald Packa take over and rename the company Packa Box Company.
Company adds its first multi-color flexo printer and begins producing printed retail cartons.
Business incorporates as Packa Corporation.
Current main plant is built at 1420 East 3rd Street.
Steve Packa, Walter's grandson, becomes President of the company.
Second building added for die-cutting and finishing equipment; company earns ISO 9001 certification.
Packa Corporation celebrates 60 years in business and marks its 100th employee.
Company completes a warehouse expansion, adding 40,000 square feet of finished goods storage.
President
Walter's grandson. Joined the company in 1994 after college and has run the business since 2003. Serves on the board of the Sedalia Area Chamber of Commerce.
Vice President of Operations
Started on the corrugator line in 1988. Oversees plant scheduling, safety and the second-shift crew.
Sales Manager
With the company since 2001. Handles most accounts in the Kansas and Oklahoma territory personally.
Chief Financial Officer
Joined in 2010 after fifteen years in public accounting. Oversees finance, payroll and insurance, and keeps the books the same careful way Walter did.
Director of FP&A
Leads financial planning and analysis. Builds the annual budget, tracks costs by job, and helps the plant and sales teams plan with real numbers.
