Allied Paper Corporation
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| Public | |
| Industry | Paper Mill |
| Fate | Forest depletion and inability to compete forced the mill to close in 1988 |
| Founded | Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA (1921) |
| Defunct | 1988 |
The Allied Paper Corporation was created in 1921 by a merger of three paper mills in Kalamazoo and Otsego, both in South-West Michigan, USA. The company grew steadily over the next 40 years but when local forests had been logged off and when profits could no longer support further investments and updates it became uncompetitive. Allied mills were closed or sold during the 1970s and 1980s, and the corporation passed into history during 1988. Hundreds of millions of dollars have since been spent in South West Michigan cleaning up the last Allied Paper mill site and the PCB pollution caused by this company.
Allied Paper Mills was incorporated in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA during 1921 when three local paper companies merged. These were the Monarch Paper Company in Kalamazoo, the King Paper Company in Kalamazoo and the Bardeen Paper Company in Otsego. The combined output of 10 paper machines and 34 coating machines immediately placed the Allied Paper Mills in the top producers of book paper in the nation. When operating at full speed and full capacity it was expected that between 1200 and 1800 people would be given employment. A. L. Pratt was selected as company President, and A. G. Gilman and George H. Gerpheide were the vice presidents. George B. Davis was the secretary and S. B. Monroe the treasurer. The new corporation was capitalized at 5,000,000 preferred shares and 5,000,000 shares of no-par value common stock.
By 1925 the Allied Paper Mills employed 1500 people and had produced 2,725 railroad car loads of paper in that year. It was stated by vice-president Alex G. Gilman that the various divisions were in splendid physical condition. Improvements in 1924 included a new boiler house at the Bardeen Mill and rebuilding of paper machines in both the Bardeen and King Mills. The no-par stock was changed to a par value of $10 and 400,000 shares were issued in 1924.
In January 1931, Alex G. Gilman, now president, reported at the annual stockholders meeting that Allied Paper Mills had been profitable in 1930 and noted that the outlook in 1931 was more favorable. Alas, 1931 and 1932 turned out to be difficult years and the company did not make any profits. In January 1934 President Gilman was able to report that profits of $25,000 had been made during 1933. At this time Frederick C. Fisher and John A. Pyl were the vice presidents, S. B. Monroe was still the treasurer. In 1933 the larger of the two mills in Otsego (former Bardeen No 1) was sold to the Menasha Corporation.
On 2 September 1955 it was announced that the Allied Paper Mills board had approved a plan to be acquired by the Thor Corporation, a maker of household appliances. A special shareholders meeting was called for 3 October so they could vote on this plan, which offered $46 per share of common stock. At this time, Allied was the fifth largest employer in Kalamazoo County, Michigan and had made a net profit of $1,367, 410 in 1954. No executive changes were planned by Thor. The shareholders approved the plan and on 2 December 1955 Arnold H. Maremont, president of Thor Corporation announced the transaction was complete. D. R. Curtenius, who had been the president of the Allied Paper Mills, was retained in a consulting capacity by the new paper-making division of Thor.
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