Ex-American Tissue paper mill to reopen

Dec 02, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. The former American Tissue Inc. paper mill here in Washington County has been bought by a California businessman who plans to re-open it by the end of next year. Hermanto Sentoso bought the mill on Route 53 for $800 000. Saratoga Springs attorney John Hogan Jr. said that the entity that bought the mill is called United Fibers LLC. "They are going to be opening the plant," Mr. Hogan said. "It's still in the formative stages. It's a long, arduous process." Mr. Hogan said the plant, which will produce tissue paper, needed environmental permits. But he declined to comment further on his client or the project. "I'd like to tell you more, but I cannot," he said. The plant has been vacant since 2001 when Long Island-based American Tissue shut down operations and filed for Chapter 11 protection. In 2002, the plant was bought by a California investment group for $1.4 million in a bankruptcy sale as part of a plan to hire 90 workers and resume manufacturing. But the project never materialized. Mac Sanders, the Empire Zone coordinator for the Washington County Local Development Corp., said Sentoso has plans to restart the mill within 10 to 12 months. "It means jobs in Washington County, and it means investment in Washington County," he said. He said a 25-acre parcel owned by Sentoso has been designated for a new 100-acre Empire Zone the county is in the process of creating that would make the mill project eligible for state and local tax breaks. The mill project must be certified by the state, however, to be eligible, a process that could take six to nine months. Empire Zones are designated areas throughout the state designed to encourage economic development. Sanders said he doesn't know how many jobs the mill would create once it is up and running, but he is excited about it. "I think it's good," he said. "In upstate New York, you've got a dormant paper mill coming back to life."