ESCANABA — During the Delta County Chamber of Commerce annual dinner and centennial celebration I had the honor to present the Century Award to the Verso Corporation and their Escanaba Mill. The Escanaba Mill was know as the Escanaba Paper Company at the time, became a founding member of the Chamber. Growing up in Escanaba my first interaction with the paper mill was through their sponsored baseball teams in Little League and Babe Ruth. My rivalry with the paper mill sponsored sports teams got cranked up a notch when I would come home during the summer from college. My classmates from the class of 1976 played men’s softball together for four years and one of our biggest rivals was the “Mead Oldtimers.” It was easy for me to see the interest in the community by the mill and its employees.

In 1891 the Escanaba Street Railway Company ran the electric trolleys that moved down Ludington Street in Escanaba and provided transport to Gladstone. They were the parent company for the Escanaba Paper Company. As the company produced its first paper on site in 1920 it was already positioned to become one of the most important businesses in Delta County. The economic impact of the mill over the last 100 plus years is one of the areas biggest success stories. The leadership throughout the years has always positioned the mill for success as the paper industry and trends changed. Making targeted investment into the growth and capacity of the Escanaba mill continued to grow its position as a leading employer in the Upper Peninsula. The mill had around 375 employees in 1939, the labor force was about the same in 1945 as it added 40 women to its workforce for the first time. With a payroll of $925,000. By 1951 the labor force was about 500 and the annual payroll grew to $2 million. The Escanaba Paper Company was liquidated in 1958 and became the Escanaba Division of the Mead Corporation. This acquisition would add more growth as Mead announced a $56 million mill expansion project in 1968 and the #3 paper machine started operation in 1969. The Mead Publishing Paper Division was created in 1976 and the #4 paper machine, “The Spirit of Escanaba” started operation, completing the largest single expansion in Mead history. In 1995 the Escanaba mill had 1,300 employees on its payroll and provided another 500 jobs in wood harvest and transportation.

Starting in 2001 the Escanaba mill would be changing parent companies, Mead merging with Westvaco in 2001. The MeadWestvaco Corp. selling its paper business, including the Escanaba mill to a private buyout group for $2.3 million in 2005. NewPage acquired the mill in 2007. Then in 2014 Verso acquired NewPage creating the Verso Corporation. Today the mill has about 830 employees and many partner jobs that support the mill. I had an opportunity to tour the mill in 2014 as part of the Delta Force Leadership program. I was amazed at the size of the property. The mill is on 2,000 acres and has the capacity to produce 730,000 tons of paper a year. You can see the economic impact of the mill as the many generations of employees have worked their entire careers at the Escanaba mill. The quality of the employee base and outstanding leadership at the Escanaba mill has always made sure the business is nimble and can evolve in the ever changing paper industry. The vision of the group will position the mill for many years of future success. The mill leadership and employees are all active in the community; sharing their time, talent and treasure to many local charitable events. Our area has been blessed to have such a great corporate citizen for over 100 years. Thank you to Verso Corporation, the Escanaba mill and its current and past employees for everything they have done for the area.

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Ed Legault is executive director of the Delta County Economic Development Alliance.