Pulp and paper producer Georgia-Pacific LLC of Atlanta, Georgia, is planning to invest $90 million at its mill in Crossett to grow its retail consumer tissue business.
The investment at the mill will add 50 new jobs and increase converting capacity for bath tissue. The Crossett mill makes bath tissue for the consumer market, and currently employs more than 400 people. Initial production from the investment is expected in 2026.
Kelly Ferguson, senior director for public affairs and communications at Georgia-Pacific, told Arkansas Business in an email that the facility will not expand its physical footprint as part of the investment.
“We are able to fit this investment into our existing buildings,” Ferguson said. He also noted that the investment will be for new converting lines that take large tissue rolls and turn them into bath tissue rolls for consumers.
“I am proud of our Crossett team members and their ongoing work to make this a safe, competitive and strategic location for our Consumer Products business,” Deb Coduto, vice president of manufacturing at the Crossett mill, said in a press release. “This investment reflects their dedication to our mill, our customers and consumers and to the community that supports us.”
By the end of this project, Georgia-Pacific will have invested more than $250 million at the Crossett mill since 2019.
The state offered Georgia-Pacific the following incentives for the expansion: Tax Back, which provides sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery and equipment, Create Rebate, which provides annual cash payments based on a company’s annual payroll for new, full-time, permanent employees, and a Quick Action Closing Fund of $500,000.
“Georgia-Pacific is an international leader in the timber and forest products industry, and we are excited that they are investing $90 million to expand their facility in Arkansas,” Clint O’Neal, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, said in the release. “This is a major win for Crossett, creating 50 new jobs for Arkansans in the area, and shows that Southeast Arkansas is strong and well positioned for continued economic development success.”
Other local leaders also expressed support for the project in the release, including Ashley County Judge Jim Hudson, Arkansas State Senator Ben Gilmore and members of the Crossett Economic Development Foundation.
“I had the chance to visit Georgia-Pacific’s facility in Crossett this time last year and observe the phenomenal work they do to power our economy — and our country,” Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the release. “I’m excited by their plans to expand their footprint in the Natural State and will continue to lead a pro-business administration that encourages investments like this one.”
Georgia-Pacific shuttered its bleached board operations in Crossett in 2019, affecting more than 550 jobs. The company said that the decision to shutter the operations “was based on an assessment of the mill’s ability to compete effectively in the bleached board market.” The move permanently shut down the bleached board machines at the mill, as well as the extrusion plant, woodyard and pulp mill.
Georgia-Pacific operates more than 150 facilities and directly employs approximately 30,000 people.
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