When he arrived in Salt Lake City from Germany in 2002, Hanko Kiessner brought a good product and a strong desire to succeed in the United States' enormous, competitive economy.

Kiessner, who attended the University of Utah years earlier, had seen the potential of the fanfold corrugated board made by his employer, Germany's Skanwell. He began experimenting with some new corrugated converting machines, hoping to convince clients to invest in the equipment so that they could make their own, custom-fit packaging.

In Salt Lake City, Kiessner started Packsize Corp. with the slogan "Right-Sized Packaging on Demand." The company's goal was a more efficient way to supply containers to companies that use corrugated products, and Packsize was initially run from a small bedroom in Kiessner's in-laws' home. Kiessner and his wife handled all of the company's sales, financing, engineering, tech support and orders processing.

But Kiessner began to convince companies that they would be better off with Packsize's packaging equipment on their premises, as well as raw corrugated product ready to convert into any type of package they needed.

Besides becoming a leader in corrugated packaging, Kiessner also wants Packsize to lead Utah and national companies in sustainable operations. Packsize's approach to corrugated packaging is highly efficient, reducing not only the amount of corrugated product that is used, but also the number of planes and trucks needed to ship it.