Tim Riebau, president and CEO of VPI (formerly known as Valley Packaging Industries and which recently announced a November merger with VARC, Inc.), joins co-hosts Kate Bruns of Insight on Manufacturing and Ann Franz of the NEW Manufacturing Alliance on this week’s new episode of the NEW Manufacturing Insights podcast, sponsored by Rice Companies.
Riebau talks with Bruns and Franz about VPI’s mission, the changes the organization has been through in recent years, and why large companies love working with the nonprofit.
VPI, which in 2026 will be celebrating its 70th anniversary, launched after Kimberly Clark encountered a need for a co-packing partner. Company leaders, including one who had an adult child with a disability, developed a concept of creating work opportunities for people who might not normally have them, while at the same time filling the co-packing need, Riebau says.
The 501c3 nonprofit still offers key services like shrink wrapping, repackaging, in-store displays, bagging, boxing, blister packaging and more—tasks that many large organizations don’t want to divert their labor to completing, says Riebau, who first learned about VPI when working for a company that used the nonprofit as a vendor.
“I remember being in there one day thinking, ‘You know this would be really a cool thing to do … You’re running a co-packing business with real customers, employees, deadlines, and yet it’s mission based… you’re impacting people’s lives, it’s kind of a cool mix of business and mission.”
The last few years have been focused on growing and developing the business into the future, he says. Part of that effort has been in consolidating its 11 locations into three, saving operations costs and creating greater production capacity.
“The advantage that we really have in what we do is just the sheer space,” Riebau says. “When we do some of these large pallet programs, they may ship in 20 truckloads of toys.”
VPI also went through a branding change, shortening its name and updating its logo to better represent the two sides of its efforts, packaging and human services. “We don’t want to move away from (packaging), but we do so much more,” Riebau says.
Companies interested in working with VPI can start by visiting its website at vpiwi.org.
Listen to all of the insights from Riebau, including the changes he’s seen over his tenure and what he likes most about his job, by downloading the full episode on Spreaker or anywhere you listen to podcasts. NEW Manufacturing Insights is produced by Woodward Community Media; new episodes are released on Thursdays.
Contact your Insight account manager for sponsorship information or contact Kate Bruns at kbruns@insightonbusiness.com to suggest topics and guests.
