Georgia-Pacific breaks ground on $500M expansion in Wisconsin
Georgia-Pacific (GP), a packaging producer headquartered in Atlanta, has announced a $500 million expansion to its Broadway mill in Green Bay, Wisconsin, having broken ground on the project July 20.
The company says the investments will enhance its retail consumer tissue and towel business and include building a new paper machine using through-air-dried (TAD) technology and adding associated converting equipment and infrastructure.
The project first was announced in December 2021 and is expected to be complete in 2024.
GP refers to its Broadway mill as “one of the largest wastepaper recycling operations in the world,” adding that it uses more than 430,000 tons of recovered paper annually to produce paper products that are found in airports, hotels, restaurants, hospitals and schools.
“This truly is an investment in our customers and consumers who value the quality of our products,” GP President and CEO Christian Fischer says. “We appreciate the local community, Brown County, state officials and all of our employees’ hard work and efforts to continue making our Green Bay Broadway mill more competitive for the long term.”
The Broadway mill operates seven paper machines and several converting operations to make bath tissue, paper towels, napkins and facial tissue for retail and away-from-home use.
GP says the capital investment at its Green Bay facilities has totaled more than $700 million since 2006. The Broadway mill marked its 100th anniversary in 2019.
Kentucky city receives $3M to advance Pratt paper mill
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo has announced the department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $3 million grant to Henderson, Kentucky, to aid in the completion of the Pratt paper mill, which officially broke ground in December 2021.
The grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan and the EDA’s Coal Communities Commitment.
According to the EDA, the funds will go toward the construction of a high-pressure natural gas line, providing service to Pratt’s upcoming paper mill and box factory and promoting job creation in a region the EDA says has been affected by declining coal use. The investment will be matched with $2.8 million in local funds and, according to grantee estimates, is expected to create 320 jobs and generate $400 million in private investment.
“The Economic Development Administration is dedicated to working with communities to support their locally driven strategies to recover and rebuild from the pandemic,” says Alejandra Y. Castillo, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. “The project will provide critical infrastructure upgrades needed to support the region’s manufacturing industry and spur private investment in Kentucky.”
Pratt announced its $400 million paper mill project in July 2021. The company plans to build two facilities totaling 1.15 million square feet in Henderson County. At the time of the announcement, Pratt said its initial investment would support the construction of a 450,000-square-foot paper mill that will manufacture 100-percent-recycled products. The company said it plans to make a future investment to build a 700-square-foot corrugator plant to produce corrugated sheet and boxes using paper sourced from its new mill.
The paper mill is expected to be completed in September 2023, and Henderson Economic Development Director Missy Vanderpool tells WFIE 14 News in Evansville, Indiana, that meeting Pratt’s timeline was critical during negotiations. “Now that we’ve been awarded the grant, we can move forward with those upgrades.”
“This federal EDA grant will bring much-needed improvements to the city of Henderson’s utility service,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says, adding that the gas line will support jobs and investments in the area.
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