Global Manufacturer Plans $80M Investment in Fort Smith Facility

Glatfelter, a global manufacturer of specialty papers and fiber-based engineered materials, plans to purchase the former Mitsubishi Power Systems building at Chaffee Crossing in Fort Smith, with plans to open a new facility there by late 2017.

The Mitsubishi plant was planned for the 200,000-SF building, but that never came to fruition.

Glatfelter will create up to 83 highly skilled manufacturing jobs at the new facility, with a total capital investment of about $80 million, according to a press release.

“We are truly excited to partner with the people of Fort Smith and Arkansas because we know that investing here makes great business sense for our company,” Chris Astley, president of Glatfelter’s Advanced Airlaid Materials business unit and a senior vice president of Glatfelter, said in the press release. “Locating here benefits our business in a number of ways.  It will enable us to expand our capacity to meet our customers’ growing demand for our advanced air-laid products, provide us with closer proximity to key suppliers and customers, and link us to highly efficient transportation routes across the South. Equally important, it will allow us to tap into the area’s high-quality workforce.”

Gov. Asa Hutchinson attended the formal announcement of the planned facility at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“Glatfelter is a world-class company that is making a significant investment in Fort Smith while creating jobs that will improve the lives of many area families,” Hutchinson said, according to the press release. “We appreciate Glatfelter’s decision to locate in Arkansas and are proud to add Glatfelter to the growing list of manufacturers that are choosing to do business in the state.”

Attendees at the announcement event also included representatives from Glatfelter, the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Tim Allen, president and CEO of the chamber, pointed to the significance of the new facility.

“This will be the company’s fifth North American manufacturing operation and the first U.S.-based operation for its Advanced Airlaid Materials Business Unit,” he said, according to the press release.

Glatfelter’s products range from repositionable notes, greeting cards, high-speed inkjet printing papers, high-quality book publishing papers and envelopes, to highly technical substrates for products like tea bags, single-serve coffee filters, nonwoven wallcoverings, energy storage, feminine hygiene products and wipes.

According to Glatfelter, the Fort Smith facility will supply products to a variety of customers, including those in the wipes and hygiene markets.

Glatfelter has 12 other production facilities, located in the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom and the Philippines. The company, headquartered in York, Pennsylvania, employs more than 4,300 people worldwide, according to the press release.