Conyers, Georgia based Pratt Industries secured a building permit valued at $125 million for a new 372,000-square-foot paper mill in Henderson, Kentucky. The mill will recycle used corrugated containers and other materials to make paper for new corrugated boxes.
When complete and operational, Pratt’s “industrial complex” will employ 325 people with “good paying” jobs. “This is the largest jobs announcement, we believe, in Western Kentucky in 25 years,” said Gov. Andy Beshear in a statement.
The city of Henderson obtained the building permit because the Pratt complex is being financed through an industrial revenue bond, and the city owns the 200-acre plant site on the Kentucky 425/South Bypass.
Pratt General Manager Ed Kersey said the company’s investment in the complex, originally put at $400 million, is now expected to total at least $500 million.
The construction will require 72,000 cubic yards of concrete — so much that it is taking two local concrete companies to supply it all — as the mill requires foundations 15-feet deep and more than 3,000 40-foot pilings to support the structure and its machinery.