CSX
Georgia-Pacific earlier this month celebrated the launch of a paper-products manufacturing facility that is located on a CSX-served site in Jackson, Tenn. The $425 million plant will produce Dixie®and Dixie Ultra® disposable tableware products, including plates, bowls, platters, and deep dishes.
In 2022, the company reported selecting the 241-acre property—designated as both a CSX Select Site and a Select Tennessee Certified Site—for its 900,000-square-foot facility and held a groundbreaking ceremony. Full construction began in 2023.
“Georgia-Pacific is keenly focused on the future and meeting the needs of our consumers,” said Fernando Gonzalez, President for Consumer Products Group, Dixie. “We chose the Jackson community for our new Dixie facility because of its strong manufacturing footprint. This investment strengthens our capacity to fulfill the growing consumer demand for Dixie products and creates at least 220 new jobs in a climate-controlled, modern work environment. We are excited for what is to come with this new facility.”
Currently, Georgia-Pacific directly employs more than 600 employees and operates seven facilities in Tennessee.
“It takes an entire team to bring a project like the Dixie plant to fruition,” said Rashard Howard, CSX Director of Industrial Development. Howard noted that the CSX Select Site program “has been crucial in helping communities quickly land customers on shovel-ready, certified sites that require rail.”
CSX reported that for more than a decade it has been a partner in Jackson’s economic development efforts; the city, with the railroad’s help, has secured $1.9 billion in investments and added 4,000-plus jobs in the past five years.
“We are extremely grateful for the partnership we have had with CSX and look forward to continuing to work with their team,” said Mandy White, Chief Economic Development Officer for the Greater Jackson Chamber.
CPKC
“Last night [Oct. 18], Community Renewal International announced that its 11th Friendship House, located in the MLK neighborhood of Shreveport, will be known as the CPKC Pat Ottensmeyer Friendship House, a tribute to a remarkable human being who left a remarkable legacy,” CPKC reported via Linkedin.
Ottensmeyer served as final President and CEO of Kansas City Southern from 2015 until April 14, 2023, upon completion of the Canadian Pacific-KCS combination that created CPKC. Ottensmeyer died July 28, 2024. He was 67.
CPKC was a community funding partner for this Friendship House, which is in the historic Martin Luther King neighborhood of Shreveport and was dedicated in 2023 (watch video above). Friendship Houses are built in at-risk neighborhoods and lived in by Community Renewal staff to “provide education, fellowship, after-school activities, family events, community service projects, and more in a safe and caring environment,” according to Community Renewal International.
“CPKC is honored to serve the Martin Luther King neighborhood by supporting the important work Community Renewal is doing in Shreveport,” CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel said in 2023. “This home is a bright spot in the community, and it provides hope and opportunity that make a difference. Friendship House is an outstanding example of what we can achieve by coming together.”
“All of us are encouraged beyond words to have this high opportunity to partner together with CPKC and the residents of our historic Martin Luther King neighborhood in advancing the cause of caring for one another,” Community Renewal International Founder and Coordinator Mack McCarter said in 2023. “CPKC is demonstrating that they not only serve the communities along their rails but they are also stepping up to help strengthen the very life of those communities. Our friends and neighbors join us in celebrating this great company that illustrates what we know to be true: Caring alone cannot heal our world, but caring together can!”
