June 21, 2023 at 6:04 p.m.
Paper mill satisfies terms of agreement with county
Property transfer now complete
The Oneida County Economic Development Corporation issued a press release on Tuesday announcing that the terms of the agreement between the parties have been fulfilled and the Kemp Street property has been transferred to the paper mill as planned.
"I am happy to report that we have formally transferred the Kemp Street property to Ahlstrom now that the mortgage between OCEDC and Oneida County, as well as the loan from BCPL, has been satisfied," OCEDC executive director Jeff Verdoorn announced in the press release. "This is a big win for Oneida County, the City of Rhinelander, and Ahlstrom."
In 2016, Oneida County, led by the Oneida County Economic Development Corporation (OCEDC), negotiated an arrangement where the Oneida County Board of Supervisors approved a loan guarantee for OCEDC to secure a $15 million loan from BCPL (Board of Commissioners of Public Land).
As part of this arrangement, OCEDC agreed to own the old and vacant former Printpack facility on Kemp Street, and lease it to then Expera Specialty Solutions, now Ahlstrom Munksjo.
"We purchased and then repurposed a 90-plus-year-old vacant potentially future-blighted manufacturing facility now back as a productive and ongoing entity," Verdoorn explained during a November 2017 event where the renovated facility was unveiled.
"We're creating approximately 20 good-paying and family supporting manufacturing jobs right here in the Northwoods and we'll produce a key component required worldwide for the highly technical aerospace industry along with specialty medical and other high-tech industry, again all right here in the Northwoods," he added.
"While the building was only a small part of the purchase price, the loan was used to renovate, purchase, and install all operating equipment and environmental controls for the highly modernized facility," according to the OCEDC press release.
"The state-of-the-art silicon coater is used to coat Ahlstrom's produced base papers, servicing multiple end-use markets."
OCEDC owned the property and equipment until May of this year, the release states.
Oneida County also received a negotiated interest premium over the six-year term of the loan, the release notes.
"This facility provides the necessary capacity for Ahlstrom to serve the anticipated demand in our high growth markets in the coming years," said John Adams, vice president for Ahlstrom's Precision Coatings business. "We appreciate the collaboration with OCEDC throughout the recent years, and the partnership with the Rhinelander community as we move forward."
"This is just one example of what OCEDC, our units of local government, and our industries can accomplish with a bit of creativity," Verdoorn added.
Comments:
You must login to comment.