Oklahoma City plans
Georgia-based company is reworking former Lucent Technologies site for June opening
BY DEBBIE BLOSSOM Comments 
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A Georgia-based company that makes private-label tissue products will open a new plant in Oklahoma City in June, the company%u2019s first facility in the Southwest.
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Cellu Tissue is currently accepting applications for employment and will continue to hire until June when operations begin. Interested applicants can send resumes to careers@cellutissue.com or fax them to (920) 721-9834. Information about the company%u2019s expansion into Oklahoma City and a listing of some open positions can be found at jobs@newsok.com. The plant is looking to fill positions for lead converting operators and lead industrial, electrical and maintenance mechanics.
Cellu Tissue Holdings Inc., which went public in January, is at work retrofitting a 325,000-square-foot building at the former Lucent Technologies site at 50 N Council Road.
The converting plant will make napkins, paper towels, bath and facial tissue from large rolls of paper. Cellu Tissue%u2019s products are sold nationally in retail stores.
The company did not provide information on the number of jobs it will bring to the community.
“The addition of our new Oklahoma City converting facility is perfectly aligned with Cellu Tissue%u2019s key growth strategy and ensuring we deliver to our valued customers the broadest range of converted private label tissue products that they require on time and complete,%u201D Russell Taylor, Cellu Tissue%u2019s president and chief executive officer, said in a company statement.
Oklahoma City officials said the company conducted a national search before choosing Oklahoma City and finalizing that decision in December.
The long-term lease was negotiated by Gerald Gamble of Gerald L. Gamble Co., who spent weeks showing Cellu Tissue officials buildings here and as far away as Little Rock.
“They liked Oklahoma,%u201D Gamble said, and the availability of a high-quality building just four blocks from Interstate 40.
The plant will be in a freestanding building constructed 10 years ago that has heavy industrial flooring, high ceilings and dozens of dock doors, he said.
The former distribution site is undergoing a multi-million dollar remodeling to include manufacturing operations.
The leased space is owned by 7725 Reno #2 LLC, which is managed by Terryl Zerby.
“It%u2019s wonderful to bring a manufacturer from out of town into Oklahoma City,%u201D Gamble said.
“I%u2019m glad Oklahoma City got the plant,%u201D he said.
Oklahoma City officials said the cost of doing business in Oklahoma and the central location were major factors in the company%u2019s move here.
“Oklahoma City has one of the most progressive business climates in the nation, and I%u2019m glad Cellu Tissue recognized what we could bring to the project,%u201D said Robin Roberts Krieger, vice president of economic development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
“We are thrilled that they chose Oklahoma City, and the fact that they are bringing new jobs as well as bringing new life to the former Lucent facility is outstanding,%u201D she said.
Cellu Tissue is not receiving any incentives to locate in Oklahoma City, the chamber said.
The company is headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., and has manufacturing locations in Wisconsin, Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, New York, Connecticut and the Canadian province of Ontario.
Information about Cellu Tissue Holdings Inc. is available online at www.cellutissue.com.
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It’s about time the old Lucent plant was reoccupied. With 325,000 SF it sounds like a significant number of jobs created.