Rome Paper Mill, Georgia

The Rome Paper Mill is one of more than a dozen very large paper mills owned and operated by International Paper Company in the USA. The company, which operates many smaller facilities as well, is the nation’s largest paper producer, and often cited as the largest in the world. International Paper, now based in Memphis, has been around since 1898, when 17 mills in the northeast joined forces to form the company. Today it supplies 20% of the US market for paper, and has a major presence around the world, with a total of 52,000 employees, and more than $20 billion in annual sales. Its purchase of Hammermill Paper and other companies between 1986 and 2000 made it the largest producer of office paper, and the US government its largest customer. Over the years it has sold off its coated paper and its beverage and consumer packaging businesses, while expanding its pulp and containerboard production by purchasing these divisions from Weyerhaeuser. The Rome plant makes containerboard for boxes and other applications, and is one of a few large mills the company has in Georgia.