Calhoun, Tennessee Paper Mill Expands; Adds Jobs

CALHOUN, TN (WDEF) – A $100 million dollar investment is coming to life for Resolute Forest Products.

Bill Hagerty, Tennessee’s Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, says, "They’re transforming their business model from old style news print manufacturing to making a wide variety of new products that are in demand for the 21st Century."

That means building a modern 220-foot-high pulp digester.

Rob Martin, General Mill Manager at the Resolute Forest Calhoun site, says, "They take wood chips and it’s essentially like putting it into a pressure cooker and turning it into pulp."

Hagerty adds, "Seriously, Calhoun will be observable from outer space once this is done. And we’re very excited about the investment that’s being made here today."

The new machinery will allow the 60-year-old mill to grow.

They’ll be able to not only make more than 100 different grades of paper, but they’ll be able to use the pulp for other products.

Hagerty adds, "Had they not made the decision to make the 100 million dollar investment, our concern was this would be a declining situation because news print is growing smaller every day as the demand for newspapers grows smaller."

This solidifies a future for residents in and near Calhoun, Tennessee.

In addition to the 542 employees, 50 more will be added.

Martin adds, "We are looking for operational type people, we are looking for maintenance trades type folks, mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation type folks, as well as degreed engineers to help out with this project."

The entire project should be completed by next October.

If you’d like to apply for one of those new positions, contact Resolute Forest Products.