Pulp is everywhere: In the belt around your waist, the food you eat, the TV screen you watch before bed and the paint on the walls of your house.
The Lowndes County Global Cellulose Fibers pulp mill alone spends about $300 million annually on materials and employee salaries due to pulp’s ubiquity, Columbus Mill and Modified Fibers Manager Steve Rogers told the Rotary Club of Columbus on Tuesday.
“What cotton used to do, pulp does today,” Rogers said.
GCF was originally owned by Weyerhaeuser but was sold to International Paper in 2016 when Weyerhaeuser divested its cellulose fibers business.
American Industrial Partners acquired the company in January after International Paper shifted its focus to sustainable packaging, resulting in a rebranding that Rogers hopes will yield growth, investment and a brighter future, he said.
“We are now our own company,” Rogers told The Dispatch after the meeting at Lion Hills Center. “… (We’re) working with AIP to stand this company up and then turn around and do better next year than we did the prior year.”
Kellum Hawk, GCF communications and public affairs manager, reassured Rotarians that AIP’s recent acquisition of GCF may be a shift in branding, but it won’t change the company’s commitment to community impact.
“We really look to … support the communities where our employees live and play,” Hawk told The Dispatch. “The better the quality of life that we can build in the community, the better recruitment it is for us as well.”
One recent push GCF has made for recruitment is its East Mississippi Community College Process Manufacturing Boot Camp, which exposes participants to the skills needed to work in a process manufacturing environment.
GCF has hosted 18 boot camps since 2021, providing more than 120 successful campers with a paid internship at GCF, 60% of which later transitioned into a full-time position with the company.
“The ones who have stayed are our biggest advocates,” Hawk said. “ … (It’s a) successful program, we’re proud of it … and we look forward to continuing to do that.”
Annually, GCF gives more than $100,000 in donations to area nonprofits, and the golf tournament alone has raised more than $500,000 for the Golden Triangle United Way throughout its seven-year run.
The company also partners with United Way to distribute 500 feminine hygiene kits annually to area schools, as access to feminine products is a global issue for girls in the United States, Hawk told Columbus Rotarians.
“It’s going to look different, but it’s not going away,” Hawk said. “We’re still here. We’re still investing. We’re still giving back.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
