BUSINESS Leigh Sewell promoted to CEO of MRMC PAGE
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COMMUNITY Crab Feast ticket winners announced; pre-sale tickets still available
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Vol. 3 No. 47 | Richmond Suburban News | August 1, 2018
JSRCC president Canadian firm buys Bear Island to retire Sept. 1 Former owner will be responsible for operations of facility for 27 months By Jim Ridolphi for The Hanover Local
By Jim Ridolphi for The Hanover Local HANOVER -- Over the years, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College president Dr. Gary Rhodes has become a familiar face at meetings of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. For more than a decade, Rhodes has appeared annually to update members on the happenings at the Parham Road campus that serves thousands of county residents. Last week, Rhodes made his last appearance at that podium and thanked the board for that long and cooperative relationship, and bid farewell to colleagues whom he referred to as friends. After 16 years at the helm, Rhodes and his wife are retiring, headed to a small town near Hilton Head, South Carolina, to enjoy some well deserved time off. “I will not get up a 5 o’clock in the morning any longer and text my vice presidents and ask questions like ‘So how much snow did you get in Glen Allen?’ and decide what we are going to do about the college,” Rhodes said. “Today’s a little of a nostalgic experience because I sort of feel like we’ve been brothers and sisters for my 16 years,
Jim Ridolphi for The Local
Dr. Gary Rhodes has served as president of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College for 16 years. He is retiring on Sept. 1.
and I’m going off to college,” Rhodes said. “It’s been a wonderful experience here.” Rhodes and his wife owned a home on Hilton Head for several years and recently sold it to move inland to a townhouse just off the island. Anne Marie Lauranzon also will be departing after two terms as Hanover’s representatives on the JSRCC board of directors. Stephanie Chalkley has been selected to assume that position on the board, serving alongside incumbent Marc Creery. “Thank you for Anne Marie and Mark. They’ve see JSRCC, pg. 5
DOSWELL — It’s official. As reported earlier in The Mechanicsville Local, Bear Island Paper Mill is reopening its Hanover plant under new ownership. Cascades Inc., a Canadian-based manufacturing company specializing in the recovery and manufacturing of green packaging and paper tissue products, purchased the property for $34.2 million, and is investing $275 million toward transforming the former White Birch Mill into a lightweight recycled container board operation. Since the mill closed operations last year — costing employees about 165 jobs — efforts to market, retool, and reopen the plant began. Plants like White Birch often sit vacant for years, and officials wanted to avoid that situation. “From the moment our department heard White Birch was shutting down in May of 2017 our office has worked tirelessly with numerous potential prospects globally who were interested in the facility,” said Hanover County Economic Development director Linwood Thomas. It was all hands on deck regarding the search. “You cannot land these projects on your own and we have had strong support from the [Hanover County] Board of Supervisors to Administration to Planning and Public Utilities to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Greater Richmond Partnership,” he added. HCBOS chairman Sean Davis also noted the collaboration that enabled offi-
cials to close the deal. “The efforts of the board working as a team and the great work done by the Economic Development Department shouldn’t be underestimated,” Davis said. “Good things happen when everyone is focused on a common goal. That is exactly what happened in this situation.” The results of those coordinated efforts resulted in a successful plan THOMAS that eliminated the feared long vacancy and provides about 140 jobs. Some former employees have reported receiving calls to return to work. Thomas agreed the credit for the success can be directly attributed to that group effort. “This project has truly been a team effort in every way,” he said. And those jobs that are being created are just the type of opportunities the county is seeking: quality, high-paying positions. “The jobs that will be consistent with the White Birch operation moving forward are entry level to senior paper makers, electrical and mechanical maintenance workers along with power and waste water technicians,” Thomas said. During the 18 to 24 months required to retool and renovate the plant, White Birch will lease the facility from Cascades and continue operating its former newsprint operation.
“White Birch will lease the facility back from Cascades for the next 27 months as they feel — due to the regulatory climate — they can effectively print paper at a profit,” Thomas said. “That’s great for Hanover and Cascades, as the facility won’t sit idle and as it will immediately put people back to work and generate taxes for Hanover County. Cascades can generate income from the leaseback while their paper machines are being made which could take 18 to 24 months.” Thomas said many of those employees hired back by White Birch will hopefully transition to the new operation run by Cascades. “We remain optimistic that many of those rehired by White Birch will also be employed by Cascades upon completion of the project and start of their operations in Hanover. Simply based on the scope and size, the Cascades announcement represents big economic news for the county,” he added. “This is one of the largest economic development projects in Hanover County’s history, but, more importantly, it shows that major corporations — both nationally and internationally — see Hanover as a strategic destination for their operations,” Thomas said. “This announcement will reverberate globally and force people to ask the question, ‘Why Hanover?’, which generates great exposure for us’.” That referenced announcement came from Gov. Ralph Northam’s office last week, when he revealed the sale and plans to renovate the dormant facilsee BEAR ISALND, pg. 4