“Our Story”
Mike Pasley and John Swearingen purchase Union Tape, a small distributor, in
1999. They changed the name to reflect their goals, and then they added
packaging lines to complement the tape. They acquired Pro Pack in 2005 and
changed their company’s name to Central Packaging. The business has grown over
the past seven years. The business now employs 10 people, five of whom are
sales representatives, which has increased Central Packaging’s purchasing and
selling power. Prior to purchasing their company, Pasley and Swearingen had
known one another at the University of Missouri where Pasley majored in
economics and Swearingen studied finance. Pasley worked at Scott Paper and
International Paper in sales, sales management and marketing positions, and
Swearingen attained a Master’s in Business Administration, before joining his
family’s business. Swearingen’s family had made Levi’s jeans for Levi Strauss
& Co. since the 1940’s. As Levi Strauss outsourced fabrication of its
products overseas, the Swearingen family business ended.
In 1999, Swearingen and Pasley reconnected at a University of Missouri football
game (Go Tigers!) where they discussed their similar goals and noted their
complementary backgrounds. Today, Swearingen and his family run the back office
or accounting center out of Sedalia, MO., along with other businesses which
help Central Packaging provide an excellent benefit package to its employees.
Pasley runs the operations out of Kansas City, including a 15,000-sq.-ft.
warehouse. The company utilizes local outside cartage for deliveries.
Six years in a row, Ingram’s Magazine has named Central Packaging one of the Top 100
fastest growing companies in Kansas City. In 2004, Inc. Magazine, teamed with Competitive
Inner City (ICIC), designated the company as part of the Inner City 100, the fastest
growing inner-city companies the U.S. In 2006, Kansas City Business Journal, ranked the
company as the 4th fastest growing business in the area. In 2007 and 2008, Inc. Magazine recognized
Central Packaging as one of the 5000 fastest growing companies in America. According to
Pasley, Central Packaging benefits from the Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program
(founded by Barnett Helzberg) an organization of business owners that has matched Pasley
with a seasoned businessperson and provides him with a variety of networking contacts that
allow him to connect with other similar businesses and learn from them. Future plans at
Central Packaging include internal growth, as well as growth by acquisition.
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