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The 57-employees at Georgia-Pacific's Parchment facility were notified Friday that the plant will be closing by the end of the year, and its work consolidated at plants in Wisconsin and Mississippi.

I am often telling anyone who will listen that there is a fine line between being "Unique" and being "Weird." Unique is attractive, weird is repulsive. Rush right over to the unique side, stay away from the weird. Don't be weird unless you are a rock star. It certainly won't work in the pulp and paper industry...

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A small fire outside the KapStone paper mill in North Charleston, South Carolina on Tuesday afternoon, 5 May 2015, has been contained, authorities said.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. announced that is has acquired Baird Display, a Wisconsin Corporation. The acquisition was effective 30 April 30, 2015 and terms of the deal were not disclosed, the company said.

KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation and Victory Packaging/Golden State Container jointly announced 5 May 2015 that they have signed an agreement for KapStone to acquire the assets of Victory Packaging in a cash-free, debt-free transaction for $615 million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments.

AkzoNobel has finalized the €153 million divestment of its global paper chemicals business to Kemira. The deal was first announced in July 2014.

Download Audio File of the April 2015 Nip Impressions columns.

PaperMoney 1st, Nip Impressions 2nd.

Metsä Board Zanders GmbH contains the business operations of Gohrsmühle mill located in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. Gohrsmühle mill has approximately 480 employees and its main products are cast coated and label papers.

The advantage children have over us older folks is they don't know what can't be done. Take a group of 40- to 50-year-old papermakers and put them in a room. Ask them to come up with new ways to make paper. If someone dares raise their hand and proffer a suggestion, it will be batted down by the rest of the crowd before they can complete three sentences. Experience and legacy investments prevent innovation. This industry is certainly loaded with both, but there are ways around these barriers...

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MeadWestvaco Corporation announced on 30 April 2015 the completion of the previously announced sale of its European-based tobacco folding carton business to AR Packaging Group AB.

The parties have now signed a settlement agreement and will withdraw the case from arbitration. The settlement agreement results in a USD 44 million (EUR 40 million) cash payment to be made by Montes del Plata of which Stora Enso's share is 50%.

In the US, Kimberly-Clark Professional is launching a range of tissues and towels incorporating wheat straw and bamboo. The company says it aims to provide a rapidly renewable source of fiber for its pulp mill and environmentally friendly products aimed at its commercial customers.

The headquarters will accommodate 120 employees supporting a variety of corporate functions for the specialty chemicals company, which was previously known as Ashland Water Technologies.

Quad/Graphics worker died in an industrial accident Friday morning, 24 April 2015, in southeast Oklahoma City, police reported.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific says the packaging of its Angel Soft toilet paper has been blatantly imitated by Aldi for Aldi's SoftTouch toilet paper, particularly the color of the label, images of clouds, a picture of a baby and the use of the word "soft."

The kindness of strangers is gratefully received by the recipient, but the doing of kind deeds is also a great teaching moment for young people.

According to a statement from International Paper to Paperitalo Publications on Thursday, "At approximately 8:45 a.m. yesterday (Wednesday) morning, an employee of Southern Environmental, a mill contractor, was involved in an electrical incident in the Orange Mill. He was treated at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas and released today."

We have an unconfirmed report of a fatality in a Texas pulp and paper mill this afternoon. Standby for details when we get them.

Wood is good, and improving the industry's communications with the public is vital.

A person new to the industry was recently talking to me about a personal training plan for learning the ins and outs of manufacturing paper. Of course, the plan included a few short courses, reading some training materials and watching some videos. Then the discussion turned to self-designed on-the-job training. I asked where in the process was the starting point. The answer was at the wet end, more precisely at stock prep, and moving through the process. I challenged this...

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