Vicksburg's Foam Packaging, Inc., the founder of polystyrene 18 egg cartons, celebrated its 50th anniversary last month.

For a company with less than 100 employees, they reported 1,016 years of experience. Multiple generations of the same family worked in the production workshop at any time, and the number of egg cartons produced over 50 years easily reached billions. For a company that initially had only two people, a truck and a carriage, these numbers are not bad.

The company was founded in 1971 by Jesse Davenport and the late Ray English, and is now run by the children of English and Davenport. Chief among them is Davenport's daughter Debra Isaac. For Isaac, letting her father's career continue is an act of pride, love and sacrifice.

"When I was a teenager, we would come here to load trailers after the church on Sunday-this is the so-called free labor," Isaac said. "Davenport and everyone in the British family have worked here. There are all kinds of interesting stories."

Isaac said there are six siblings on the British side and four siblings on the Davenport side, all of whom grew up in and out of Foam Packaging's office.

Foam Packaging successfully resisted the "cholesterol panic" of the late 1970s and early 1980s by adding polystyrene takeaway containers and lunch trays.

"We are proud to say that our products have been approved by the State of Mississippi for many years, and many children in Mississippi Nutrition Program Schools are using our products," she said.

Today, Foam Packaging products are spread across all coasts, as far as Iowa and Minnesota, as well as Florida and South Carolina. Although Isaac said it is difficult for untrained eyes to identify their trays or takeaway containers, consumers should look for the "FPI" stamped on the inside of the 18 egg cartons to see if it is at home in Vicksburg maded.

One thing Isaac clearly pointed out is that compared to large companies that produce similar products, foam packaging is just a drop in the bucket and is usually larger. But the company's lack of scale has been made up for in personal services.

"Compared with our competitors, we are like a little ant, their size is similar to that of an anteater," she said. "The reason why we can last for 50 years is that we can crawl quickly and can bear 10 times our body weight."

Steve Ingliss said that if there are no employees, the company is useless-this is his first-hand account of being a worker when he started working with his father.

"God blessed us on the bubble wrap and we are doing the right thing," English said. "I started by sweeping the floor, loading trucks, and changing machine molds. I have done anything that gets my hands dirty."

Mothers train their sons with foam-wrapped machines, spouses meet at the factory, and siblings work together.

Comile Floyd, the longest-serving employee, has been with Foam Packaging for 41 years. Floyd (Floyd) started from an entry-level position, and then gradually promoted to a supervisory position. The successor to the company's first maintenance director, Felton Townsend, is his son Corwayne Townsend, who has now been with the company for 20 years.

English's sister, Mitzi English Busby, affirmed the company's lifelong commitment to employees, since she was a child.

"I've been here since I was a kid. We grew up here," Busby said. "In the summer of high school and college, I would work here and learn different aspects of business. It has always been a home away from home.

"I would definitely say that when you have an employee who gets up every day and wants to come to work, it pays to make sure they are taken care of."

As the next generation of Davenports and Englishes continue to lead the company, Foam Packaging remains in stable hands-and remains in Vicksburg.

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