CHILLICOTHE — U.S. Paper Mill has won state approval for a 6,000-hour apprenticeship program to train electrical maintenance technicians at its Chillicothe facility.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services recently approved the program and welcomed the company as a new ApprenticeOhio sponsor, placing the apprenticeship in the federal Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System, known as RAPIDS. Six apprentices are currently enrolled in the program, all of them former employees of the closed Pixelle Specialty Solutions plant. Company officials expect the apprentices to complete the program in 2027, with two graduating in the spring, two in the summer and two in the fall.
The approval is the latest sign of rebirth at the former Pixelle mill, which U.S. Paper Mill acquired in October 2025 after the plant closed in August of that year. The company has begun reviving the mill’s paper machine, nicknamed “The Chief,” and expects it to be fully operational and manufacturing new paper by December.
More than 180 employees are currently working at the repurposed campus, and U.S. Paper Mill is in talks with companies exploring paper manufacturing opportunities. The company estimates as many as 350 new employees could be added for paper operations within the next year, prioritizing workers who were at the mill before its closure.
