Governor Gilmore awards $900,000 in grants to secure new facility in Brunswick County
RICHMOND - Governor Jim Gilmore today announced that Atlanta Pulp & Paper Company will locate a facility in Brunswick County. The company is building a 40,000-square-foot building to house 282 new employees. The new positions will consist of production jobs including sorters, machinery operators, forklift operators and machinists. Atlanta Pulp & Paper will invest $5.3 million in its new location, which is due to start production in the first quarter of 2002.
“Atlanta Pulp & Paper is a quality addition to the industrial base in Brunswick County,” said Governor Gilmore. “The company will certainly benefit from the dedicated workforce in the region.”
Governor Gilmore approved a $450,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Brunswick County with site preparation. State Senator Charles Hawkins, Chair of the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, was helpful in securing this project for the Commonwealth by helping to obtain $450,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity funds to attract Atlanta Pulp & Paper to Brunswick County. Virginia successfully competed with New York for this investment.
"One of the commission's key objectives is to provide funding for closing economic development deals in the tobacco-producing counties of Southside and Southwest Virginia," said Senator Hawkins. "This project will stimulate the economy in Brunswick County and provide valuable job opportunities for the region’s citizens."
The company is eligible for further tax credits through the enterprise zone tax credit program provided by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Brunswick County Industrial Development Authority assisted Atlanta Pulp & Paper Company with its decisions.
Atlanta Pulp and Paper manufactures and sells 100 percent post consumer non-deinked recycled pulp and sorted office and municipal waste papers to domestic and international paper manufacturers. The company uses no harsh chemicals or other environmentally harmful products in its proprietary processes. During the construction of the new facility, Atlanta Pulp & Paper will occupy 10,000 square feet on a temporary nine-month-lease basis in an existing facility in the Brunswick Industrial Park.
Chairman and CEO Michael Gallaher was quoted as saying, “Our decision to locate in Virginia was based largely on Virginia’s central location on the Eastern Seaboard within a one day short haul of more than 60 percent of the U.S. population and most major markets. Brunswick County offered a superior location within easy access to major North/South and East/West arteries plus a highly skilled, mature and motivated workforce capable of assisting the company to grow for years to come.” “Furthermore, representatives of both local and state government were very willing to work with us and made it clear that our business belongs in Virginia,” Gallaher added.
Secretary of Commerce and Trade Joshua N. Lief attended the announcement on the Governor’s behalf. “The new jobs being created by Atlanta Pulp & Paper are very important to Southside Virginia,” said Lief. “We are pleased that the company recognized the benefits of locating to the Commonwealth.”