Capital Improvement Project to Result in $105 Million Investment, 25 New Jobs
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty along with Resolute Forest Products U.S., Inc. officials today announced the company will invest $105 million in equipment and building improvements at its Calhoun, Tenn. pulp and paper mill. Resolute Forest Products, a top global paper products manufacturer, is one of McMinn County’s largest employers. Upon completion of the project, the company will create 25 new jobs over the next five years.
“For more than 50 years, Resolute Forest Products has had a thriving presence in East Tennessee which can be felt far beyond the borders of our state,” Hagerty said. “Tennessee’s global momentum is fueled by companies that extend their brand on a worldwide scale, and with customers in nearly 100 countries, Resolute is one of those companies. I appreciate the company’s decision to further expand and invest in Calhoun, and for the jobs that will be created for our citizens.”
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint, specialty papers, market pulp and wood products. The company owns or operates more than 40 pulp and paper mills and wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea, and power generation assets in Canada.
The project will support the acquisition of a modern continuous pulp digester and other equipment to process wood chips. Other investments will be made on paper machine equipment which will allow for the strategic shift to a white paper grade mix and help the operation fully utilize its pulp dryer capacity.
Resolute Forest Products’ Calhoun mill, established in 1954 as one of the earliest newsprint mills in the southern United States, is located on the Hiwassee River in Calhoun, Tenn. The paper mill is one of the largest in North America as a result of continued expansion and investments, and employs a workforce of more than 500 people.
Contacts
Debbie Johnston
Director of U.S. Public Affairs, Resolute Forest Products U.S., Inc.
[email protected]
(817) 561-4338
John Gentry
McMinn County Mayor
[email protected]
(423) 745-7634
Kathy Knight
Executive Director, McMinn County Development Authority
[email protected]
(423) 745-1506
About Resolute Forest Products
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint, specialty papers, market pulp and wood products. The company owns or operates over 40 pulp and paper mills and wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea, and power generation assets in Canada. Marketing its products in close to 90 countries, Resolute has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to at least one of three internationally-recognized sustainable forest management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade under the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Resolute and other member companies of the Forest Products Association of Canada, as well as a number of environmental organizations, are partners in the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. The group works to identify solutions to conservation issues that meet the goal of balancing equally the three pillars of sustainability linked to human activities: environmental, social and economic. Resolute is also a member of the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers program, in which businesses establish ambitious targets to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions and work aggressively toward achieving them.
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Tennessee was named “2013 State of the Year” for economic development by Business Facilities magazine. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies which help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tn.gov/ecd. Follow us on Twitter: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.
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