Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear joined three Pratt Industry executives at a groundbreaking ceremony last week for the $400 million, 320-employee recycled paper mill complex Pratt Industries will build in Henderson, Kentucky.
In addition to Beshear, special guests from Pratt Industries/Visy included Global Executive Chairman Anthony Pratt, Global CEO Brian McPheely and Gary Byrd, President of Pratt Holdings, which is the parent company for all of Pratt’s interests in the United States.
Pratt said last summer it would first construct a state-of-the-art, 450,000-square-foot paper mill that will manufacture 100 percent recycled products and will employ approximately 120 people. At the time, the company said construction of the mill would begin in March 2022 and be completed by fall 2023. The company said it would later construct a 700,000-square-foot corrugator plant to produce corrugated sheet and boxes, including pizza boxes and packaging for major distributors and big box stores, using paper sourced from the new paper mill. The corrugator plant will employ 200 people.
The corrugator facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and employ approximately 200 people once fully operational.
Pratt Industries said the jobs will pay wages averaging nearly $30 per hour. Counting benefits, it said compensation with average $39 per hour. Company leaders also expect the project to require 700 construction workers over the coming years. Gov. Beshear has called Pratt the biggest economic development announcement in Western Kentucky in 25 years.
Pratt is America’s 5th largest corrugated packaging company and the world’s largest, privately-held 100 percent recycled paper and packaging company, with more than 10,000 highly-skilled, green-collar employees.
