HISTORY

A SMART Heritage

The SMART Papers mill was once the site of the Champion Coated Paper Co., and then International Paper after its acquisition of Champion. In 2001, Sun Capital Partners acquired the facility and created SMART Papers, an independent manufacturer and marketer of premium cast-coated, matte-coated and uncoated printing papers. In 2006 the Plainfield Special Situation Fund purchased SMART Papers.

Champion invented the cast coating process at Hamilton in 1929, a process that takes a coated sheet and “casts” it against a hot, very smooth, highly polished dryer drum. The result is a high-gloss, ultra-smooth and ink receptive surface for high-definition printing. Even today, only a few mills around the world have this technology.

Since its founding in 2001, we have relaunched our core brands, implemented new information technology systems and expanded our manufacturing capabilities. We have also enlarged our sales and customer service staff to bring faster and more detailed product information to our merchants, and have extended our North American distribution reach in order to reduce product delivery times. All very SMART moves.

On the horizon: Gradeline expansions and new manufacturing capabilities to give our customers even more SMART paper possibilities to choose from.