WICKLIFFE, KY (From news reports) -- Republican candidates stopped at the Phoenix Paper Mill in Wickliffe Friday as part of a statewide bus tour leading up to the November election.
In August, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin helped secure a $200 million investment for the mill.
Friday, Bevin said the paper mill represents the future of west Kentucky jobs. He and several other candidates up for election toured the mill, and spoke to about 100 employees and local leaders.
Phoenix Paper plant manager Craig Tatum talked with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin as the governor took at tour through the paper mill in Wickliffe on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019.
"I made a commitment to the people of this community that I was going to everything in my power to bring these jobs back," Bevin said.
The director of strategy for Global Win Capital, the subsidiary of Shanying International that owns Phoenix Paper, said it has stalled production at the paper mill until around Nov. 11.
Strategy Director Tom Lawson also admitted that the company has had troubles with cash flow.
"It's not something that we would typically expect, but with the mill just starting up and the issues with trade and other things, it was not what we were counting on right now," Lawson said. "So, it took a little readjustment, which is probably the reason why we are doing the retooling and what not moving forward."
The mill is adapting the types of tools it's using to produce multiple types of paper product, like paper grades, fiber and product pulp.
Lawson said the bills are paid.
Ballard County Judge Executive Todd Cooper said he looks forward to the regional expansion of the paper mill.
"It's a quad-state effort. It's a regional effort, it's across the county lines, states line, so it's not a Ballard County thing," Cooper said. "We are looking forward to more of these across the region, so it's going to be exciting times."
