International Paper’s Franklin Mill this week is expected to begin operating equipment in preparation for the planned June start-up of the mill.

Residents can expect to notice activity similar to when the mill had previously been in operation, said mill Manager Allison Magness.

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I came to Franklin from Courtland last June. I was very excited. This is the first time International Paper has ever restarted a facility.

Our top priority here is our people, getting the right people hired, making sure that they are ready to run the mill. We have around 225 employees currently and have just a few jobs left to fill. About 80 to 85 percent of the operators and mechanics we’ve hired worked at the mill before, which we feel really good about. Obviously, these people bring so much operational experience back to us, and we highly value that.

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Two companies that have publicly expressed interest in using portions of the
International Paper mill campus in Isle of Wight County say they are on track
with proposed manufacturing facilities that would create more than 200 jobs.

Along with some 220 jobs that IP is creating to make fluff pulp at the mill,
total employment at the site could exceed 400.

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By Josh Brown
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 17, 2011

International Paper Co. will spend $83 million to repurpose its shuttered paper mill near Franklin to produce fluff pulp, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Tuesday. The project will create 213 jobs.

“This project is tremendous news for Isle of Wight County and the entire region,” McDonnell said in a statement. “It will help offset the economic ripple effect caused by the company’s 2009 announcement and it is further evidence that Virginia is wide open for business.”

The company will retrofit a portion of the plant to handle as much as 270,000 metric tons of of the fluff pulp, which is used to make soft papers used for tissues and baby diapers.

The news comes just a month after a firm backed by former gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe announced it was in talks with International Paper to potentially use part of the mill to make wood pellets.

“IP is currently the third largest global supplier of fluff pulp and this investment gives us greater participation in a growing market,” Mark Sutton, International Paper’s senior vice-president, said in a news release. “IP is a leader in the use of renewable energy. The Franklin fluff pulp facility will be 89% energy self-sufficient, utilizing power generated from carbon-neutral biomass on-site. The capability of producing energy from renewable biomass resources makes the remaining portions of the Franklin Mill site an ideal location for other partners looking for on-site green energy options.”

The company said in the release it is still evaluating offers from other firms to reuse other portions of the plant.

Press Release

By Josh Brown
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 20, 2011

A firm backed by former gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe announced Tuesday that it is in talks with International Paper Co. to potentially use its shuttered Franklin mill to make wood pellets.

Franklin Pellets LLC has proposed using the site to produce 500,000 tons of wood pellets, which are burned for energy or heat. The firm said it has reached an agreement with International Paper, the Memphis, Tenn.-based paper company, to explore the proposal.

The agreement with McAuliffe’s firm is the first to take shape since the paper mill closed last year and about 1,100 workers lost their jobs.

“There’s no decision about this option or any future re-purposing option,” said Donna Wadsworth, a spokeswoman for International Paper. “They have entered into a letter of intent. The process now is called due diligence.”

McAuliffe, who ran for governor of Virginia but lost the Democratic nomination to state Sen. Creigh Deeds in 2009, announced his interest in the site more than a year ago. At the time, the businessman’s plan was to use the site to make wood and biomass energy.

“I want to applaud the site owner’s decision to explore options for the site in Franklin,” McAuliffe said in a news release. “It is essential to create new jobs in the local community and at the port. This investment and these jobs are part of a clean energy future.”

Franklin Pellets, which was incorporated this month in Delaware, is a partnership between Texas firm MultiFuels LP and CMI LP, a Virginia firm owned by McAuliffe and Peter O’Keefe, a political associate.

O’Keefe said in an interview that it is too soon to estimate how many jobs the project would create.

Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com

By Allison T. Williams, atwilliams@dailypress.com | 247-4535
11:04 a.m. EDT, April 20, 2011

Former Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is moving forward on his proposal to open a renewable energy facility at the shuttered International Paper Co. in southern Isle of Wight County.

Ending months of speculation, the newly formed Franklin Pellets LLC announced plans late Tuesday to study the feasibility of opening a wood pellet manufacturing plant capable up producing up to 500,000 ton of pellets per year at the former paper mill. Franklin Pellets is a joint venture between McAuliffe’s investment firm, CMI L.P., and the Texas-based energy company, MultiFuels L.P.

“If all goes well, we will be up and running in about 18 to 24 months,” said Peter O’Keefe, McAuliffe’s partner in CMI. Franklin Pellets has signed a letter of intent to do a due diligence evaluation and feasibility analysis of the site over the next six months, O’Keefe said.

O’Keefe declined to say how much of the massive 1,200-arce International Paper site his business would be using or how much investment or employees the new company would be hiring.

“The investment would be significant,” he said, referring all other questions to International Paper. “We’re very excited. It’s a fantastic location in one of the most vibrant wood baskets in the country with easy access to the port.”

Franklin Pellet’s target market for the wood pellets would likely be Europe, where 20 percent of all power has to come from renewable energy sources, O’Keefe said. The European market is expected to be using 100 million tons of wood pellets by 2020, up from the current 11 million tons, he said.

That increased usage by Europe is already reflecting in United States’ exporting of wood pellets, O’Keefe said. In 2008, the country exported 85,000 tons of pellets; the number increased to 600,000 tons in 2010, he said.

FRANKLIN—A wood pellet manufacturer is eyeing the possibility of bringing new life to the site of International Paper Co.’s former Franklin mill.

Franklin Pellets, a newly formed partnership between Multifuels L.P. and CMI L.P., said in a press release Tuesday that it proposes to build its plant in Franklin. Peter O’Keefe, a principal at CMI, would not say whether the company hopes to occupy the former mill site.

John Smolak, president and chief executive officer of Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc., said Franklin Pellets has signed a letter of intent to use the mill.

O’Keefe’s business partner is former Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe.

No one from International Paper could be reached Tuesday.

Mayor Jim Councill said the company had talked to IP about using part of the existing property, but that plans had not been finalized.

“I’m real excited about it,” Councill said. “It’s something we’ve all been hoping for.”

O’Keefe said the plant would help create new jobs in forestry, manufacturing and transportation and could begin operating in 18 to 24 months. He could not say how many jobs would be created or how much they would pay.

Smolak also said he didn’t know how many jobs might be created.

O’Keefe said Franklin’s location and talent pool makes it ideal for manufacturing wood pellets.

“Franklin is inside of a great wood basket, and one of the country’s busiest ports is less than 40 miles away,” he said.

There is a great potential for growth in the wood pellet industry because the European Commission has mandated that 20 percent of all power in European Union countries be produced from renewable sources. This means that coal plants in Europe will need to co-fire with wood pellets to stay open, he said.

O’Keefe said Europe has restricted resources and is focusing on production from the Southeastern United States.

“European countries currently use 11 million tons of wood pellets per year,” O’Keefe said. “We expect that market to grow to 100 million tons by 2020.”

O’Keefe also said he expects to see a growth in the domestic market, given the current market in Europe.

“We think Franklin is situated to participate in both markets,” O’Keefe said. “It’s an exciting business and it’s a growing business.”

International Paper officials have spent the past few months reviewing about 15 proposals from companies interested in the site. While there are no plans for paper or paperboard to be produced at the site, repurposing options under consideration involve the production of wood pellets, lumber, fluff pulp, ethanol, biomass power generation and bio-diesel, Wadsworth said.

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FRANKLIN—A spokeswoman for International Paper Co. said Thursday the closed Franklin paper mill is being considered for the production of wood pellets, lumber, fluff pulp, ethanol, biomass power generation and bio-diesel.

Donna Wadsworth, manager of communications for IP in Ticonderoga, N.Y., said various other options also remain under consideration.

“We anticipate that the studies and decisions regarding the future of the Franklin site assets could be completed in early 2011,” she wrote in an e-mail.

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International Paper might maintain a presence near Franklin, but the mill won’t make paper anymore.

In the company’s most detailed comments since its paper mill stopped production in April, a spokeswoman said Thursday that it is considering proposals from businesses such as producing wood pellets or ethanol.

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