Florelle Tissue Starts up Converted Mill in New York

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Florelle Tissue Corp., Brownville, N.Y., USA, has begun production following a four month conversion of a specialty paper mill formerly known as Brownville Specialty Paper Products Inc. According to a report in the Watertown Daily News, Watertown, N.Y., 15 production employees are now working at the plant, operating a napkin machine. Packages of napkins produced at the plant will be shipped to customers in Canada, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

The mill, which has been closed for three years, has a total of 94,000 sq ft. President Harry Minas explained in the newspaper article that for the past two years, Florelle had been busy securing funding and making plans to outfit the mill.  "The napkins have already been sold, and we have clients across Canada that are waiting for the product."

Three more converting machines were installed installed last month to produce paper towels and bathroom tissue, and the plant is hiring an additional 15 to 20 production workers to operate the equipment..

Minas said the plant will continue installing converting equipment throughout the summer. A paper machine that will use virgin pulp is being installed, which will be completed by August. More converting machines will be installed thos month. By the end of the year, the mill will operate 24 hr a day, seven days a week. Employees will work on two 12-hour shifts every day.

"I foresee the machines being installed by late summer," Minas said. "We hope to be hitting our target of 70 to 75 employees by the end of the year."

Reported to cost more than $4 million, the project received funding from several local sources, including a $350,000 loan from the Jefferson County, N.Y., Industrial Development Agency, a $250,000 loan from the Development Authority of the North Country, a $125,000 loan from the North Country Alliance, and a $100,000 grant from the Jefferson County Local Development Corp.