Nine Dragons Announces Multimillion Dollar Expansion at WI Mill

Big changes are coming to the paper mill in Biron.

Founded almost a century ago, the mill is undergoing a $189 million expansion after Hong Kong-based Nine Dragons Paper bought it in June.

Plans for expansion started right away, General Manager Sean Krajnik said Tuesday.

“It’s an expansion of ND Paper in the U.S,” he said. “It gives them a base to do what they do best in the world which is make corrugated medium liner board in addition to the white paper that they excel at.”

This expansion is far different than the recent trend of Wisconsin paper mills cutting back or even closing.

State Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, sees the expansion as big news for central Wisconsin.

“As a elected official in the area, it is important to highlight our great employers and the fact that ND has been in the area for a few months and they made this huge, strategic investment sends a strong message not only to the state but to the country,” Testin said.

The investment will include purchasing new machines and expanding – to include a new recycled pulp facility.

“After going through decades of non-investments and the shrinking of the paper industry, the paper industry is rebounding and it is going to start with ND Paper in the United States,” Krajnik said.

The mill now employs 350 workers and the expansion adds up to 27 new jobs right away, the company said.

“They want this mill to be here 100 years from now because it’s been here 100 years,” Krajnik said.

When News 9 visited the mill on Tuesday, it was clear that construction was already underway.

Kraynik said the goal is to complete the expansion by late 2019 or early 2020.

In June, Nine Dragons Paper acquired pulp and paper mills in Maine and Wisconsin from Catalyst Paper Corp. for $175 million, the company said.