FORT SMITH, Ark. (From The City Wire) -- The huge Mitsubishi building in Fort Smith designed solely to assemble complex, multi-ton wind turbines will soon employ more than 80 people in the production of a material small and soft enough to be part of a wet wipe.

York, Pa.-based Glatfelter is acquiring the empty 200,000-square-foot Mitsubishi building and will invest $80 million to transform it into a specialty materials production plant estimated to employ 83 when it opens in late 2017. The first shipments from the plant are expected in the first quarter of 2018. The company plans to spend up to $45 million in 2016 on the new operation, and the remainder in 2017.

Glatfelter, a publicly traded company, is a global manufacturer of specialty papers and fiber-based engineered materials used in coffee filters, baby wipes, adult diapers, feminine hygiene products, and a wide range of other products.

An announcement of the deal was made Tuesday morning (March 1) at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, with Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) attending. The deal remains contingent upon closing on the purchase of the building from Mitsubishi Power Systems.

Glatfelter announced Dec. 10 it planned to invest $80 million in a new U.S. facility in its Advanced Airlaid Materials division to support U.S. customers. Canada and Germany are now home to the only production plants in the division.

Glatfelter, which employs 4,300 worldwide, has 12 production facilities in the United States, Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom and the Philippines. In the Dec. 10 announcement, Advanced Airlaid Materials President Chris Astley said the plant would be located in "close proximity to several key customers and highly efficient transportation routes in the southern U.S., as well as where we have additional access to a high-quality, skilled workforce."