Hammer Packaging Sets Sail for a Second Century in Business

Steady as she goes

Despite what he calls the "mind-boggling" proliferation of SKUs and a fiercely competitive market, Hammer Packaging's President and CEO Jim Hammer keeps a level head and a clear-eyed focus on leadership, innovation, and workforce development.

"One way we compete in the marketplace is through technology that enables us to reduce the cost of production rather than our prices," Hammer said. While the company has always added production capacity as needed, he explained, it was during the 1980s that Hammer instituted a formal policy of reinvesting 10 percent of the previous year's sales back into the business to drive down operational costs and expand the range of products and services the company offers.