A Piece of Paper-Making History is Back Home
Appleton’s G2 Paper rehabs old Kimberly mill rewinder
The Business News
August 1, 2011
A 28 year-old rewinder that ran for the first time in the old Midtec Kimberly Mill has returned to Appleton where it recently was installed on the shop floor at G2 Paper, a paper converting company and distributor of industrial and food-grade papers.
The 126-inch rewinder was purchased by Midtec in 1983 from the Langston Co. in Great Britain. It was shipped by boat and train to the Kimberly mill. Yellowed purchase orders, fading blueprints and typewritten ROI projections followed the historical piece of equipment to its new owners.
“This is a great story about a piece of history,” said Robert Gioffredi, owner of G2 Paper. “The more history we uncover about the new piece of our business, the more excited I get about it.”
Joe Van De Hey of C3 Corporation, the company that has refurbished the machine, agrees. ‘I called my buddies at New Page and asked if they knew about the history of the machine. They didn’t have to look far to find all of the old records, photos, blueprints, and specs.” Van De Hey said.
“Maybe you have to be a manufacturing guy to fully appreciate it,” Gioffredi said. ‘But I think this is an amazing piece of history being returned and re-purposed here in Appleton.”
Gioffredi said he found the machine buried in a pet-food company in Topeka, Kansas. He and his son Matt, who spearheaded the rewinder project, had no idea that the machine was originally from the Fox Valley. After discussions with C3, Gioffredi decided that purchasing the old machine and refurbishing it was a better choice than buying a new rewinder.
Other local Fox Valley companies also helped bring the piece of area paper-making history back home. Oshkosh based C.R. Meyer broke down, transported and reassembled the machine at its new G2 home at 1005 South Perkins Street in Appleton. Werner Electric and other local vendors provided parts, and even the bank that financed the project is local.
C3 hosted a private open house for family members from both companies to see the machine in its final refurbished state. “It has come along way, smells a lot better, and looks brand new,” Gioffredi said.
