Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 1, 1994 TAG: 9411010082
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The expansion is expected to add about 25 permanent jobs at the mill after a new 600-ton-per-day linerboard machine goes into operation about the middle of 1996. The mill currently employs 340 people, meaning the expansion would add about 7 percent to the work force.
Also included in the expansion - and under the same roof as the new paper machine - will be a new 900-ton-per-day recycled-fiber plant that will supply the raw material for the new paper machine. It also will help supply the existing two paper machines at the Big Island plant, replacing waste paper currently purchased from outside sources.
Georgia-Pacific's board of directors approved the expansion at its meeting Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla. The board also approved the modernization of another containerboard mill in Toledo, Ore. The company also operates containerboard mills in Monticello, Miss., and Cedar Springs, Ga.
A general contractor for the Big Island expansion has not been chosen. The project will be located about 1,000 feet south of the existing mill. Construction employment is expected to average 350 people, reach 650 at its peak and take 13 months, according to the mill's general manger, Joseph Kertis. The work is on a fast-track schedule, and preliminary permits have been sought.
The two machines at the plant make corrugating paper, the fluted paper found in the center of cardboard. The new machine will make linerboard, which is the paper that's used for the sides of cardboard. Both types of material will be shipped in rolls to Georgia-Pacific box plants and the box-making plants of other manufacturers.
Georgia-Pacific decided to expand the Big Island plant for a number of reasons, Kertis said, including the skilled work force, availability of electricity, access to a CSX rail line and the mill's location close to the company's major U.S. markets.
"This expansion ... reflects a commitment by Georgia-Pacific's senior management to this local community and to continued support for the Big Island facility," Kertis said. Georgia-Pacific's containerboard business is very good now, with demand running ahead of supply, he said.
Georgia-Pacific bought the paper-maker Great Northern Nekoosa and its Big Island mill in March 1990. The mill celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1991.
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