CHARLOTTE, N.C. (From news reports) -- A large paper-making operation southeast of Rock Hill is getting a breath of new life with the infusion of $240 million from its new West Coast owner.
New-Indy Containerboard will extend the production life of a 63-year-old operation in York County by as much as another 40 years, executives say. The facility, which at last count employed about 430 workers, will convert to the production of containerboard used to make cardboard boxes. Founded as Bowater, the operation is located in Catawba.
New-Indy officials first appeared at a York County Council meeting on Nov. 18 with a request for incentives under the project code name of Origami. New-Indy was granted incentives that would cut its county taxes by 60% to $8.8 million a year as it completed the purchase of the Catawba plant for $433 million from Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: RFP). That property tax savings would last for 40 years, according to the agreement signed with York County.
Rick Hartman, New-Indy COO, told The Herald in Rock Hill that the tax incentive was key to saving the jobs at the plant.
"It'll breathe new life into the mill, which was really headed on a downward spiral," Hartman told the newspaper. "It'll cement the future of the mill and it will actually provide and preserve jobs."
The $240 million cost for converting the plant to containerboard production was included in New-Indy's $433 million purchase price of the plant.
Hartman and other officials of New-Indy couldn't be reached for comment on this story.
The facility dates to 1957 in Catawba, which is located about 35 miles south of Charlotte. The plant operated for decades as a pulp and newsprint-making unit of Bowater Inc. and, later, AbitibiBowater. Montreal-based AbitibiBowater changed its name to Resolute Forest Products Inc. (NYSE: RFP) in 2012.
The York County facility has been one of the county's largest employers. In the 1980s, the plant reached its peak in employment at 1,400.
New-Indy was created in 2012 as a joint venture between the Massachusetts-based Kraft Group, a family company that also owns the New England Patriots NFL team, and Indiana-based Schwarz Partners, which owns Carolina Container, a paper plant in Hickory.
The Catawba plant will add a new capability to New-Indy, which currently uses all-recycled fiber at its paper mills. The converted machines in York County will allow New-Indy the capability of mixing virgin pulp and paper with recycled fiber for customers.
New-Indy, which is based in Ontario, California, says that process also will allow the Catawba mill to continue to use wood from local suppliers to support its operation.
The process of converting the Catawba mill to containerboard from its current coated paper operation should take about 10 months, Hartman told The Herald.
Michael Johnson, chairman of York County Council, says saving a paper manufacturing plant and retaining the jobs there is a great service by New-Indy.
"We couldn't be more pleased that New-Indy Containerboard has chosen to make such significant investment in York County," Johnson says. "We look forward to seeing the company continue to grow and thrive."
