Clearwater Paper earns $17.2M in first quarter

Biz Bits

Clearwater Paper made $17.2 million in the first three months of 2024, but its earnings were hampered by a temporary shutdown in January related to natural gas supply uncertainty and frigid weather at Lewiston.

That update comes from Clearwater Paper’s news release on its results for the first quarter of 2024 that was issued last week.

The earnings in the first quarter of 2024 were lower than the same time for 2023 when Clearwater Paper earned $23.4 million.

“Despite the significant weather event that impacted the quarter, we delivered solid results that came in at the higher end of our expectations through strong operational execution,” said Clearwater Paper President and CEO Arsen Kitch in the news release.

“Our Lewiston team did a tremendous job repairing damaged equipment under very difficult conditions and resuming operations,” he said.

Clearwater Paper announced a temporary suspension of operations at the Lewiston mill Jan. 15. It wasn’t made public when full operations resumed.

Company officials estimate additional expenses related to the weather were $15 million to $17 million, said Sherri Baker, Clearwater Paper’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, in a conference call for stock market analysts.

“That is the full amount of the claim,” she said. “We do have a $4 million deductible and we expect to see some partial recovery in the second quarter. That process is still ongoing with the insurance carrier.”

Clearwater Paper employs about 1,300 people at its pulp and paperboard and tissue operations in Lewiston.

The paperboard is made into packaging and paper dishes. The tissue is used for toilet paper, paper towels, paper napkins and facial tissue.

Net sales in pulp and paperboard were down 12% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same time last year because of lower sale prices and the weather, according to the news release.

Those factors were offset some by lower input costs in wood energy and freight, according to the news release.

Net sales in tissue rose by 2% compared with the same time last year because of higher sales volumes, lower input costs and strong operational performance, according to the news release.

The information about Clearwater Paper’s earnings comes as the company is preparing for a major upgrade, maintenance and repair project in Lewiston.

Portions of the Lewiston operation will be temporarily offline at various times from June 1 through July 14 while $75 million in work is completed.

All of Clearwater Paper’s Lewiston staff will be working during the project that will involve contractors from around the world with more than 1,000 crew members.

The largest share of the $75 million — $35 million — will be spent rebuilding one of two recovery boilers in Lewiston used in a process that converts wood chips into pulp for tissue and paperboard.

The 15-story-tall recovery boiler was originally constructed in 1988.

Recovery boilers are where the expensive chemicals used for pulp making are recovered so they can be reused in a process that was introduced in the late 1800s that made paper of all kinds affordable to the masses.

Clearwater Paper’s recovery boilers and a wood waste boiler create steam, which runs equipment and is channeled through turbines that generate electricity.

Clearwater Paper’s acquisition of Graphic Packaging International’s Augusta, Ga., bleached paperboard manufacturing plant for $700 million has closed.

The wood products company announced the expansion of its paperboard operations in February in a news release where it shared its strategy for the future.

Clearwater Paper will be exploring “strategic options for its tissue business as it intends to focus on growth in paperboard,” according to the news release.

Lewiston is home to Clearwater Paper’s largest manufacturing site and the only place where it makes pulp, paperboard and tissue.

Bumper Crop Coffee adds parklet seating at its Lewiston location

Clear lights hang from wooden rafters over a deck inspired by Greece and Walla Walla at Bumper Crop Coffee in downtown Lewiston.

The recent addition of more tables and chairs to the business’s outdoor seating area is intended to give customers more room to linger over drinks and food on Lewiston’s many warm, sunny days, said Dan Mader, an owner of Bumper Crop.

Since opening in 2022, Bumper Crop Coffee has steadily expanded its menu with choices such as ice cream, baked goods, sandwiches for lunch and breakfast, nachos, artisan bread with spinach dip, beer and wine.

“We’re trying to offer a place where people can gather,” Mader said.

The debut of the new seating area in a former parking spot comes after Mader, and his wife, Cindi Mader, successfully lobbied Lewiston’s elected officials to amend city code.

The Maders pushed for the change after enjoying outdoor restaurants in places they have visited such as Greece and Walla Walla.

Businesses along Main Street between Third and Ninth streets can now apply to have seating, called parklets, in the public right of way of the street under the code.

They are required to meet a number of requirements such as being free of hazards, nuisances, or sight obstructions for vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Whoever holds the permit for the parklet is required to maintain it and, if necessary, remove it.

The one at Bumper Crop was installed in sections that can be lifted with a skid-steer loader and placed on the back of a trailer to be moved to a different location, Mader said.

Northwest Engraving Service opens second location at Pullman

PULLMAN – A family-owned business that started more than 40 years ago in a basement has grown with a second brick-and-mortar location in Pullman.

Northwest Engraving Service is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at 231 E. Main St. in Pullman.

Jill Larson Garner is the manager of Northwest Engraving in Pullman. She is the daughter of Dixie and John Larson, who acquired the business in 1978, said her brother, Mike Larson, an owner of Northwest Engraving.

The business makes products such as identification badges for employees, corporate awards and signs that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also does customized engraving for items such trophies, glasses, pocket knives and medallions.

The expansion will support more work with Washington State University, which has become one of its biggest customers since Northwest Engraving earned its license with the school in 2022, said Mike Larson.

The additional sales to WSU are part of a trend at the business where revenue has been steadily increasing since 1978, said Mike Larson.

His dad purchased Northwest Engraving when he was an aspiring Realtor after working as the manager of Winchester State Park, the younger Larson said.

John Larson wanted to be his own boss and discovered he excelled at engraving much more than real estate, Larson said.

The business was located in their basement and did work such as electrical labels for what is now Clearwater Paper. As a child, he would earn pocket money doing simple jobs in what was then a manual process that involved tracing letters with a stylus, Larson said.

In 1994, Northwest Engraving moved to its present Lewiston location at 302C Thain Road and invested in a computer numerical control engraving machine, a piece of equipment his mother, Dixie Larson, excelled at running, he said.

They later added laser engraving, sublimation and ultraviolet printing.

Larson’s career path is similar to his dad’s.

He worked at Payless Drug in Lewiston as a supervisor before choosing to join Northwest Engraving in 1995 rather than be promoted to a supervisor of a Payless Drug in Southern California, Larson said.

As Northwest Engraving enters its 46th year in the Larson family, the business is poised to be passed on to a third generation, he said.

His daughters, Shantel Larson and Danilyn Burns, own Northwest Engraving with him, Larson said.

Shantel Larson learned she had a talent for graphic design after losing a job as a esthetician at Ulta during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Northwest Engraving’s owners and staff enjoy that they have the expertise to help their customers clearly and concisely convey some of the most important messages, Larson said.

Fundraiser for TriState Health Foundation ongoing this month

Eleven businesses are participating in a “Retail Round Up Fundraiser” for TriState Health’s Foundation this month.

The donations will pay for equipment, programs and services, according to a news release from TriState Health Foundation in Clarkston.

The fundraiser happens in the same month as National Hospital Week and National Nurses Week.

“Every staff member is necessary to deliver compassionate, high-quality care,” said D’Lynn Ottmar, chief development officer for the TriState Health Foundation.

Coleman Oil and Early Bird Supply will give customers an opportunity to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar in May.

Shoppers at Clarkston Heights Family Foods, Quick Stop Grocery Stop and Rick’s Family Foods can give $1 and have their name displayed on cards with the TriState logo at the stores.

JP Scrubs is giving 20% of its sales May 11 to the fundraiser. Crumbl Cookies will donate 15% of purchases made May 15 and MOD Pizza will give 25% of sales May 16, but only on sales where patrons mention the TriState Health Foundation.

Three businesses, Erb’s Ace Hardware, Liberty Mart and Stinker Stores made monetary donations before the fundraiser started.

The foundation is accepting donations at (509) 758-4902 or foundation@tsmh.org.

Williams can be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.