User:Capitalismojo/WPP

Wausau Paper Corp. (nyse: WPP) is an American pulp and paper company.It has approximately 2,000 employees, and it is headquartered in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Wausau Paper Corp. (Wausau Paper) incorporated on June 9, 1899, manufactures, converts, and sells paper and paper products. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had five operating facilities located in four states. The Company operates in two principal segments: Tissue and Paper, with both business segments marketing their products under the Wausau Paper brand name. The Tissue segment produces a complete line of towel and tissue products that are marketed, along with soap and dispensing systems, for the away-from-home market. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Paper segment produced specialty and fine printing and writing papers within four core markets - Food, Industrial and Tape, Coated and Liner, and Print and Color. In January 2012, the Company sold print and color brands to Neenah Paper, Inc. of Alpharetta, Georgia.

History
1899

Wausau Paper Mills founded. Norman H. Brokaw and brothers W.L. and E.A. Edmonds build the first Wausau, Wisconsin, area paper mill; only the second built on the Wisconsin River. 1910

Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company Established in Mosinee, Wisconsin. The first integrated mill in North America to use the sulfate pulping process; the company is renamed Mosinee Paper Mills Company in 1920. 1928

Adding Breadth. In December, Mosinee purchases Bay West, a maker of paper napkins, paper towels and creped and kraft papers. 1958-1961

Growing by Leaps and Bounds. A $4.25 million expansion program doubles production. 1966

Mosinee Paper Mills Purchases Nekoosa Edwards’ Special Products Business. Mosinee Paper Mills continues its expansion, becoming Mosinee Paper Corporation in 1970. 1976

Astrobrights™ Introduced. The Company becomes a North American leader in premium printing & writing and colored papers with the introduction of the soon-to-be-iconic Astrobrights™ brand. 1980

Rhinelander Paper Company Purchased. Through this acquisition, the Company becomes a leading producer of specialty papers and expands production to meet emerging new commercial and consumer demand for pressure sensitive and protective-barrier papers. 1990

The Foundation is Laid. A world-class tissue and towel converting facility is constructed in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. 1993-1997

Expansion to Serve Growing Business in Eastern U.S. Markets. The Company acquires manufacturing capacity in the Northeast U.S. to support its growing sales, and enhance customer service in Eastern U.S. markets. The Groveton, New Hampshire, and Jay, Maine, (Otis) mills enjoy a decade of strong performance. By the mid-2000s, however, digital communications reduces North American uncoated freesheet demand dramatically and more efficient distribution systems allow the Northeast to be served more cost effectively from the Company’s Midwest base of operations. 1997

The Merger of Two Paper Companies. On December 17, 1997, the shareholders of Wausau Paper Mills Company and Mosinee Paper Corporation approve a merger uniting two strong participants in the North American paper industry. The Company becomes the Wausau-Mosinee Paper Corporation. 2003

A New Market Opportunity Identified. The Company’s Tissue segment introduces the industry’s first complete range of Green Seal™ certified towel and tissue products for the away-from-home market. Sales and profitability grow dramatically and launch a dramatic period of expansion investment in the business. 2004

A New Master Brand Emerges. The Company is renamed Wausau Paper, as the products of the Wausau-Mosinee Corporation are fully integrated under a single umbrella. The Company’s leading position in the premium and colored uncoated freesheet market is expanded with the acquisition of a mill in Brainerd, Minnesota. 2009

Business Unit Consolidation. Cost reduction initiatives and two years of restructuring lead to the formation of a streamlined Paper segment and improved operating performance by the Company’s non-Tissue businesses despite the global recession. 2010

Setting the Course for Future Growth. The Company embarks on the most ambitious growth project and largest capital investment in its history as it commits $220 million to build a first of its kind paper machine at Harrodsburg. 2012

Focus on Technical Specialties and Away-From-Home Tissue. After intensive strategic review and responding to accelerating declines in uncoated freesheet market demand, the Company exits the Print & Color market and shutters the Brokaw, Wisconsin, mill in early 2012. The Harrodsburg paper machine comes on-line – the project is on-time and $10 million under budget.

Wausau Paper today reflects a concerted strategic review conducted in 2012 that resulted in a decision to focus future efforts and capital investments in the growth of the highly profitable towel and tissue business.