The familiar sound of the whistle at the new American Eagle Paper Mill will officially blow again sometime during the first week of November, officially declaring the reopening of the facility.
“It all depends on how things come together. So I can’t officially say what day it will happen,” Team Ten LLC Group President John Ferner told The Daily Herald this morning.
The whistle, in the past, sounded five times each day including 7 a.m., 8 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and again at 4 p.m. According to Ferner, one of those times may be dropped.
“People don’t know that the whistle is actually blown by hand. A person pulls a rope,” said Ferner.
The 7 a.m. start time calls salaried employees to work; 8 a.m. is start time; noon means the start of the lunch break; 1 p.m. means the end of lunch and the 4 p.m. sounding is quitting time.
Employees continue to finalize renovations and make equipment adjustments so the plant can reopen in a few weeks. Fifty-one workers were on the job last Friday and 100 to 120 will be added in the next few weeks to 30 days. Renovations included work on several of the facilities’ roofs, boiler work, and work to turbines and the bag house collection system.
“All renovations have gone according to schedule,” added Ferner. “The plant has not had any problems with any of the equipment.”
Officials of Team Ten LLC, made up of 12 businessmen and several members of the plant’s former management announced plans back in July to reopen the mill and again produce uncoated paper products for clients in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. The initial product line will include American Eagle Envelope, Silver Spring Envelope, American Eagle Offset, and High D Reply Stock, and Virgin Envelope. Products made that the Tyrone plant services magazine and book publishers, along with envelope converters and other markets.
The former Westvaco plant closed in October 2001, putting 265 workers on the unemployment lines. Officials of Team Ten closed on the deal to purchase the factory and property on September 4, from the Mead Westvaco Corporation. With most of the major equipment intact, renovations costing between $500,000 and $1 million dollars have almost been completed according to Ferner.
1800 people have applied for the new job openings at the plant. Ferner indicated this morning that 40 percent of the applicants are from the mills former workforce.
