Perry calling on London to save Foley paper mill and thousands of jobs

The small town of Perry, Florida will send a representative to a November conference in London in the hopes of finding a buyer for the Foley paper mill in a bid to save 525 mill jobs and up to another 1,500 in the North Florida logging industry.

The annual London Pulp Week Symposium attracts the international pulp industry to discuss the latest news related to extracting pulp from trees and processing it into thousands of consumer goods from fluffy bathroom tissues to flat-screen televisions.

The Taylor County Economic Development Authority thinks the industry insiders from places like Brazil, China, Norway, India and elsewhere gathering in London Nov. 6 – 10 would find the Foley mill an attractive buy if they knew it was for sale.

They’re sending Bob Cate, who managed the plant for more than seven years, to make the pitch.

The Foley mill is one of seven in the world capable of dissolving pulp’s cellulose fibers into chemicals used in the manufacturing of cell phones and acetate products, and as an additive in ice cream and shredded cheese.

The London symposium kicks off with a full day of meetings on Foley’s specialty – Monday, Nov. 6 is dissolving pulp day – and Cate will be there looking for a buyer.

“There's 97 people who will be in the meetings that day. They represent all the major manufacturers of dissolving pulp in the world. There's only five. It’s a very small market,” said Cate in an interview with the USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida.

And Cate knows many of them, having competed with them for suppliers and customers and at industry functions during his 44 year career in the pulp business including as an executive at Foley under both Proctor Gamble Buckeye Cellulose and then Georgia Pacific.

“What I’m trying to do is let the world know the mill is available, its condition, it’s technological age and that it is capable of making certain products. And I can do that because I’m the retired plant manager,” said Cate, who is a member of the Citizens Action Task Force organized to keep the plant open.

The Task Force is counting on former Florida Department of Commerce Secretary and now Enterprise Florida CEO Laura DiBella to join Cate in London and tell the potential buyers how the state of Florida can sweeten the purchase with economic incentives.

Commerce has connected a half dozen potential buyers to Georgia Pacific already and has discussed with them possible tax deferrals, infrastructure money and job training programs as enticements.

"However, a formal incentive package isn’t something that happens until a prospective company starts proposing firm details, like their proposed capital investment and job creation," said Rose Hebert, the department's director of communications.

▶Are you a Perry mill employee or former employee who is willing to share your story? Contact reporter James Call at jcall@tallahassee.com

Georgia Pacific gave its workers and North Florida a six-week notice in September it would close its Foley plant by mid-November.

On a recent Monday, the employees’ parking lot at the mill along the Fenholloway River was nearly empty. A company spokesman did not respond when asked how many people have been laid off, but did say GP was committed to a safe and orderly shutdown and it would be completed by Nov. 16.

The mill is the main economic driver in a county where 22,000 people live among 525,000 acres of forested land. It had a $77 million payroll, created a $377 million economic impact for the county, and paid more than $9.9 in local and state taxes, according to a University of Florida study.

Within a day of Georgia Pacific announcement about two dozen former mill executives who remained in Taylor County organized into the Citizens Action Task Force. Cate flew down from North Carolina where he retired, and the group did an assessment of the plant, talked to current and former workers, and did a market analysis.

They firmly believe the mill can be a profitable operation.

Calculating the cost: The staggering numbers behind Perry paper mill closing: 2,000 jobs, $10 million in taxes lost

“That plant has been profitable for 60 of its 70 years. It was only in the last 10 years it had any difficulty. We don’t think there is anything that would prohibit a new owner from coming in and operating profitably,” said Dan Simmons, a former Foley executive and task force member.

Georgia Pacific bought the plant in 2013. Cate suggests it's parent company, Koch Industries, miscalculated.

Georgia Pacific's focus, he said, is more on fluffing pulp for toilet paper and diapers, not dissolving it into a chemical for high-tech electronics and other consumer goods.

Georgia Pacific did not respond to questions about the decision to close the plant, but a spokesman did say the mill will be left in "a sellable condition."

Michele Curtis worked 35 years at Foley. She retired 10 years ago as the wood supply manager, in charge of purchasing 550 semi-trailer loads of wood daily.

She thinks a lot is riding on Cate’s trip to London but is optimistic about the story he will tell.

Taylor County has the wood, the skilled labor force, the water, the equipment, and the environmental permits needed to make the Foley mill a profitable operation, she said.

But time is of the essence, a buyer willing to put up around $2 billion needs to be found before the permits expire, the equipment falls into disrepair, the workers move away, and the natural resources are diverted to other uses.

“London is our chance to make it happen. If it’s going to happen, that’s where it is going to happen. These are the people who have the money to do it. And they have the knowledge to know the potential,” said Curtis.

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com and is on X as @CallTallahassee.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Perry, Florida pins hopes on international buyer for closing paper mill