RUMFORD – Four new signs have been erected around the paper mill identifying it as NewPage Corp., which became the owner in May.
Within a month or so, all the signs with the name of the former company, MeadWestvaco, will be replaced.
Mill spokesman Tony Lyons said Friday that the new silver and blue signs are up at the Farrington Mountain Landfill in Mexico, the administrative building on Hartford Street, the top of Route 108 and the lower gate.
The two larger signs over the lower and upper gates will be taken down, repainted and put up in another few weeks, along with an unknown number of smaller signs on company trucks and throughout the mill complex.
The sale of the paper mill and four others around the country by MeadWestvaco was completed in early May by NewPage Corp., an independent corporation financed by a number of investors including Cerberus Capital Management LLC of New York City.
The five mills purchased by NewPage focus on making coated paper.
While new signs are being erected, Lyons said preparations are being made to begin a $6.8 million upgrade of the No. 15 paper machine.
He said engineering work is being completed and some pipes are being installed by both in-house workers and contractors. The majority of the project will begin soon after the start of the second quarter next year and should take just a few days to complete, he said.
The upgrade is expected to improve the quality of coated paper manufactured on the machine, Lyons said.
The number of mill employees has remained at 1,100 since the mill’s purchase and the four paper machines are operating, Lyons said.
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