6
tobacco industry, and is the
world's largest single facility for
the manufacture of cigarette
paper.
Requiring the same rigid
measures of quality as the orig
inal Ecusta cigarette paper, to
day's variety of type capability
is almost without end. Research
and development are in con
tinuous pursuit of innovations
that offer advantages to custo
mer and consumer. Many types
are tailor-made to customer
specifications. Still, the demand
for close specification remains
the same: uniform thickness
less than 15/10,000 of an inch;
elasticity, yet having strength
enough for a strip a little more
than an inch wide to withstand
an eight-pound weight; the
ability to impart no taste, yet
capable of having the tobacco
rate controlled to burn at the
same rate as the tobacco it
wraps; and resistance to mois
ture. In addition to cig
arette paper, which is shipped
in bobbins, reams and booklets,
Ecusta’s tobacco industry prod
ucts include cigarette filters,
tipping papers, plug wrap, and
endless belts.
The Endless Belt operation
was moved to Pisgah Forest
from New York City along
with the converting operations
which preceded the Ecusta
Paper Corporation. Endless
belts are textile specialties
used by the tobacco industry in
operation of cigarette-making
machines, and are made to ex
tremely close tolerances. Other
uses have been for calculators
and similar equipment. Their
making requires dexterity and
exactness, qualities which
were found easily among those
persons employed for the work
at Pisgah Forest.
The 1970's have seen major
changes in Ecusta’s handling of
flax, its principal raw material.
An overall expansion of
Ecusta’s flax pulp processing
and manufacturing equipment
was completed in 1976, under
taken in anticipation of incres-
ing needs of both domestic and
foreign markets for the tobacco
industry products. It was the
second large flax investment of
this decade, following establish
ment of Ecusta’s Fibre Opera
tions in the upper mid-West for
purchasing and processing flax
straw.
Ecusta purchased the flax
procurement portion of Archer-
Daniels-Midland’s field organ
ization and established head-
quarters at Watertown, South
Dakota, to buy the agricultural
waste generated in the Dakotas,
Minnesota and Southern Can
ada, by the flax seed industry.
A processing plant was con
structed at Rauville near
Watertown where the flax is
decorticated to remove the
woody portion of the stalk,
preparatory to shipment to Pis
gah Forest. As with the Film
Division plant in Indiana, the
flax operations in the mid-West
are accountable to Pisgah For
est, headquarters of the Ecusta
Paper and Film Group as well
as headquarters of the two
operating components.
The Group has been re
aligned to effect a closer knit
organization. Two new vice
presidencies were created in the
reorganization which cen
tralized at Group level a num
ber of functions to serve both
divisions, in place of what had
The decortification plant is located in Watertown, South Dakota. At this plant, the woody
portion of the flax stalk is removed in preparation for shipment to Pisgah Forest where cigarette
and specialty papers are made. Note the bales of flax in the background. In the off season, the
plant-fibre operation employs approximately 200 people while as many as 600, during the months
of April through November, are employed.
been separate divisional func
tions.
It is appropriate that the op
erating units at Pisgah Forest,
source of an annual payroll in
excess of $40,000,000, should
have a strong industrial rela
tions commitment administered
through the Employee and
Community Relations Depart
ment. Among the department's
diverse responsibilities, that of
labor relations has taken on a
new dimension since organiza
tion of the bargaining unit by
Local 1971, United Paper-
workers International Union
(AFL-CIO). The Union built its
large Union Hall on land west
of the plants in 1973.
Another responsibility is that
of a well rounded medical pro
gram administered by a staff of
physicians and nurses. The staff
has occupied the modern Medi
cal Center since its opening in
1951.
It is a matter of policy that
safety and safe practices are
considered a permanent op
erating principle. Each division
has its safety personnel and
committees, and there is a
Group director of safety and
loss prevention. The group
facilities have been widely ap
plauded for their safety achieve
ments through public recogni
tion and coveted awards; in
addition to Ecusta’s setting two
new world records for paper
mills. Internally, the success of
the safety program has been
attributed to the fine spirit of
cooperation by all employees
and efforts of the Company-
Union Safety Committee.
Through the years there has
been a strong bond between
Olin's industrial complex at Pis
gah Forest and the com
munities. It was the late Mr.
Straus's promise that local peo
ple would make up the work
force as much as possible. To
day, in tangible fulfillment of
that promise, over two-thirds
of Olin's 2,800 employees at
Pisgah Forest are residents of
Transylvania County. Hender
son County has most of the
other employees as residents,
followed by Buncombe County.
Small numbers live in Hay
wood County and other sur
rounding counties.