Despite disappointment that American Hyperion Solar, which builds solar cells, pulled out of plans to locate in St. Helens earlier in 2024, the year should end on a bright note as upwards of 100 jobs are projected to come to the area.

That’s because Arcadia Paper Mills is planning to purchase the former Cascades Tissue site, located at 1300 Kaster Road. While a due diligence process is underway, which could take several more weeks, Arcadia welcomed the news.

“Thank you to the city of St. Helens for working together with Arcadia Paper Mills the last several months and seeing the vision for the future of the facility. We look forward to bringing back jobs to the community and returning the 35-acre site to it’s full potential,” the company said in a release.

The Arcadia statement continued, “Significant investments will be made to rebuild and revitalize the mill site.”

The details

Mill manager Craig Allen told the Spotlight that Arcadia Paper Mills is a towel and tissue paper mill and that they will produce “parent rolls.”

“A parent roll is a large roll off of the paper machine weighing one to two tons,” he said. “These rolls go to a converting machine that makes usable products like roll towel, folded towel and napkins.”

As to how many potential jobs will come to St. Helens, Allen expects 50 to 60 jobs in the first phase.

“Phase 2 would grow to approximately 80,” he said. “The future build out would be well over 100.”

Arcadia will be adding machine operators, as well as technical, engineering and electrical positions. There will also be management, warehouse personnel and clerical jobs.

Allen said his company will be working with and purchasing from the local area, including electricity, natural gas and wastewater services.

The city said Arcadia Paper Mills, which is an Oregon limited liability company, will purchase the property for $7.5 million. They will pay $3.5 million upon closing and there will be a one-year moratorium on payments. Payments will be due over a 60-month cycle to the city.

Allen told the St. Helens City Council in a special session on Aug. 27, that if the city approved the purchase, a due diligence period would run for 90 days, which would be until approximately the end of November.

“We’re going to spend the next 90 days doing due diligence and (City Administrator John Walsh) has been kind enough to fill my computer full of gigabytes of data I have to read over the next few weeks,” Allen said. “We are ready to move forward with it.”

No to solar

In a plan dubbed Project Sprint, an American Hyperion Solar location in St. Helens could have brought 800 to 1,000 jobs and a $1 billion investment to Columbia County. The company cited a lack of electrical capacity as the prime reason for passing on the potential plant location earlier this year.

Facing an end of March deadline, the city received notice that representatives from American Hyperion Solar were unable to make a decision on siting the project in St. Helens and weren’t going to ask for more time to think it over.

A welcome reception

Paul Vogel, Columbia Economic Team executive director, who spoke at the August meeting, said the project is a reactivation of the mill’s original purpose.

“There’s a lot of interest in this,” Vogel said. “This company actually is in the market. This company has been a customer of this plant for decades. They know that segment of the market.”

“What they need is supply. They have the ability to buy the product and move the product,” Vogel said. “Now they have the opportunity to become their own supplier.”

The Arcadia announcement comes in the aftermath of the city’s Dec. 28, 2023, decision to approve a lease termination agreement with Cascades Tissue, in which the Canadian tissue paper company would have to pay the city of St. Helens $600,000.

St. Helens owned the property Cascades used for its St. Helens plant, the former Boise White Paper site.

Mayor Rick Scholl expressed support for Arcadia coming to St. Helens.

“It’s a really good project,” Scholl said. “It’s going to bring back a hundred jobs here really soon, and potentially more with repurposing, from what I’ve heard … I see it as a win-win for everybody.”

Councilor Russell Hubbard said Arcadia is taking on “huge chunk” of responsibility with bringing Arcadia to St. Helens.

“They obviously see the virtue here,” Hubbard said. “They have employees standing by, for sure.”

Hubbard added, “This is the way to go because it’s helping the community and bringing something that’s still viable back to the market. From everything I’ve seen, they’re going to be good stewards, and we need to get out of the landlord business, because we’re not good at it.”

A “perfect fit” is how Councilor Mark Gundersen described Arcadia’s purchase.

“I don’t know how a better situation could possibly occur at this time,” Gundersen said. “It just seems like the right fit for everybody.”

Councilors Jessica Chilton and Brandon Sundeen echoed support for Arcadia.

“Project Arcadia has been very respectful and patient all along,” Chilton said. “I feel very confident that this is a wonderful opportunity for the city. I am happy that I get to be a part of it while I’m on the council, bringing jobs and industry back to our town.”