IP Springfield's $100 Million Upgrade Project Now Underway

According to a report this past week by the Register Guard, Eugene, Ore., USA, International Paper is moving ahead with an upgrade to its linerboard mill valued at more than $100 million.

The upgrade started in January and at the current progression rate as of late February should be complete by the end of the year, Michelle Winetrout, company spokeswoman, confirmed this past Friday. The project represents improvements rather than an expansion.

The project at our Springfield mill (Oregon) is to upgrade equipment that will help us to operate more efficiently and be more competitive," she wrote in an earlier email.

IP is replacing two pieces of heavy equipment that had become obsolete, according to previous Register-Guard articles. The replacement project will cost $101.6 million.

Linerboard is the paper used by container makers to create boxes, Winetrout said. It is the smooth paper on the inside and outside of corrugated boxes.

Photo: Susan Zeni (left) manager of quality assurance at International Paper in Springfield leads city officials on a tour last summer of the mill off 42nd Street. The Springfield officials (from left ) are Tom Boyatt, community development manager, Christine Lundberg, mayor, and Emma Newman, transportation planner. (International Paper)

The mill produces rolls of the paper product in varying thicknesses, which are then sent to box production plants.

The mill employs 265 people, according to the company. Weyerhaeuser built the campus in 1948 and sold it to International Paper in 2008.

Both the Springfield City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners last year approved a five-year property tax break, worth more than $8 million, to encourage the investment in the mill.

The company agreed to maintain its workforce to earn the tax breaks, Springfield Mayor Christine Lundberg said.

The company had the option of moving elsewhere or upgrading another mill, Lundberg said. Instead, it chose to commit to the site, she said, which is a key manufacturing cog in the community.

The paper mill (photo above) is a landmark in Springfield, said Sid Leiken, a Lane County commissioner and former Springfield mayor, and the upgrade means it will remain so.

"With the kind of investment they are putting in there, that tells me they are here for the long term," Leiken said.

International Paper is a global company with paper and packing manufacturing operations in Europe, Latin America, Russia, Asia, and North Africa, as well as North America, according to the company. Worldwide, it employs about 58,000 people.

Lundberg and Leiken said they are particularly pleased by International Paper’s investment because of the quality of jobs it provides. Average employee compensation, including most benefits, is in excess of $95,000, according to Register-Guard articles.

The mill has been "a long-standing pillar of the community," said Sarah Case, community and economic development manager for Lane County. She said the investment is good news.