The Chief Is Waking Up: Paper Is Coming Back to Chillicothe

Here's a sentence Chillicothe, Ohio has been waiting a year to hear: the paper mill is going to make paper again. In late September, the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce announced that the former Pixelle Specialty Solutions paper mill in Chillicothe will again be making paper, as reported by PaperAge — and hiring is already underway.

What happened

If you know south-central Ohio, you know this mill. It sat quiet after the closure of Pixelle Specialty Solutions, before U.S. Paper Mill acquired the facility in October 2025. Since then, the new owners have kept the lights on with other work — the site has been repurposed as a diverse jobs hub with more than 180 employees currently working on-site — but papermaking itself was the missing piece. Now it's coming back. Thirteen current employees have been assigned to reviving the plant's 12 Paper Machine, affectionately known as "The Chief." U.S. Paper Mill plans to have The Chief fully operational and ready to manufacture new paper by December of this year.

Why it matters

A mill town without its mill is a town holding its breath. The best part of this news isn't just the machine — it's who gets to run it. The company has begun recruiting and hiring new employees for paper production, prioritizing some of those who worked at the mill before it closed. And there's room to grow: U.S. Paper Mill is in conversations with multiple companies exploring paper manufacturing opportunities, and estimates that as many as 350 new employees could be added for paper operations within the next year.

Plant manager Craig Teeters put it plainly: "We are incredibly proud to return The Chief to action." You don't nickname a paper machine unless it means something to you. The Chief has a name because generations of Ross County families built their lives around it.

A long papermaking story gets a new chapter

This isn't a factory landing in a field somewhere. The planned restart of Paper Machine 12 brings papermaking back to a site with a long history of paper production, and marks a new phase in the redevelopment of the Chillicothe mill, as PaperAge noted. Chillicothe was Ohio's first capital, and the mill has been part of the town's skyline and its identity for a very long time. Places like this are why we make what we make — the Ohio collection exists because towns like Chillicothe keep showing up for themselves.

What you can do

If you're anywhere near Ross County, the simplest thing is to go spend a Saturday there. Walk downtown, eat lunch at a local spot, visit the historic sites, and keep your eye out this winter — if the timeline holds, The Chief will be rolling by December, and a working mill is good news for every shop and diner around it. If you know someone with mill experience looking for a way back in, the hiring push is on now. And if you just want to fly the flag from wherever you are, the O-H Tee is our way of saying it: somebody yells O-H, and somewhere in Ross County, somebody yells back.

Common questions

When will the mill actually start making paper again?

U.S. Paper Mill plans to have Paper Machine 12, known as The Chief, fully operational and ready to manufacture new paper by December of this year.

Are former mill workers getting hired back?

That's the plan. The company has begun recruiting and hiring for paper production, prioritizing some of those who worked at the mill prior to its closure.

Is paper the only thing happening at the site?

No — since buying the Chillicothe mill, U.S. Paper Mill has repurposed it as a diverse jobs site serving a variety of sectors, with more than 180 employees currently working on-site, and papermaking is the newest addition.

Reported by PaperAge. Details as published at the time of writing.