[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 130 (Friday, October 7, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RECOGNIZING BOWATER'S CATAWBA OPERATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN M. SPRATT, JR.

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 2005

  Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Bowater's Catawba 
Operations, the largest coated paper manufacturing facility in North 
America. The plant makes paper used in magazines, flyers, inserts, and 
coupons, and I am proud to say that it is located in my congressional 
district.
  Fifty years ago, when Bowater chose the site for a paper-making plant 
on the Catawba River in York County, South Carolina, a special session 
of our General Assembly was called to amend the state constitution so 
that Bowater, then a British firm, could purchase unlimited timberland 
acreage.
  That plant site has proven its worth many times in the years since 
then. Now, Bowater's Catawba Operation has been recognized for meeting 
and surpassing world-class standards in manufacturing, employee 
programs, community outreach, and environmental stewardship.
  The Catawba plant employs 1,000 associates. Most live in York, 
Chester, and Lancaster counties. And they are the reason that the 
Catawba plant won Industry Week's 2005 Best Plant competition, one of 
just 10 plants out of 220 nominated. They are also the reason that 
Catawba plant was named South Carolina's Manufacturer of the Year for 
2004 by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the National 
Association of Manufacturers.
  Industry Week calls the plant a ``pacesetter'' that will ``continue 
to lead the way in the future.''
  Bowater's Catawba Operations recently undertook major capital 
improvements, including the construction of a $175 million state-of-
the-art kraft-pulping mill, along with a $106 million paper machine 
conversion. Both were completed while the mill maintained a full 24-
hour production schedule.
  The plant's associates and managers not only work hard and smart, 
they work safely--recently reaching a significant safety milestone by 
working four million hours without a disabling or lost time injury.
  It comes as no surprise to us in South Carolina why the Catawba plant 
is second to none in its class.
  As the editors of Industry Week put it in honoring the Catawba plant 
and the nine other ``Best Plants'': ``These plants produce different 
products from one another, operate different machinery, rely on a host 
of different improvement methods, and face different competitive 
challenges in their quests to excel at the jobs they do. What they 
share, however, is a vision of excellence by design, not by accident. 
They hire the right people and train them well, and they focus 
continually on improvement. They have leadership that encourages input 
from all employees and employees who take up the challenge; and they 
look outside their four walls to their upstream and downstream partners 
in their efforts to be the best.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent Bowater's Catawba Plant and its 
outstanding associates, and honored to call them today to the attention 
of the House.

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