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A third-generation family-owned paper tube and cores manufacturer in New Oxford continues to expand its operations to keep up with demand.
Aaron Long, marketing coordinator for Yazoo Mills, said the company continues to grow because of its ability to deliver to customers quickly.
The niche company was founded in Yazoo City, Mississippi in 1902 as a yarn and textile mill. Long said around 1928, the company moved to Brooklyn, New York before relocating to New Oxford in 1936.
Yazoo Mills was bought by Hanover Cordage Co., to add paper tubes and cords to its textile business.
“They started Hanover Cordage to make mattress cords and thread for funeral wreaths,” Long said. “They moved into balls of kite twine and parcel post twine.”
It was during that time that Earl Newell Sr. went to work for Hanover Cordage at the age of 19. Long said Newell rose through the ranks, eventually becoming president.
During WWII, the company made rope handles for ammunition boxes. Long said by the 1960s, demand for string and twine declined and the company shifted into paper cores to sell to other industries.
When Hanover Cordage went out of business in 1961, Long said Newell bought Yazoo Mills and continued to manufacture tubes and cores.
“We make tubes and cores of various strengths for anything from shipping tubes to carpet threads,” he said. “Basically, we make tubes for anything you need to store inside them.”
Upon Newell’s retirement, the company was run by his son Earl Newell Jr.
Today, under the leadership of Newell’s grandson-in-law Troy Eckert, Long said, “Yazoo Mills is the largest family-owned manufacturer of paper tubes and cores and has a reputation for excellence in short runs and recutting.”
In addition to its New Oxford facility, the company built a 60,000-square-foot facility in Hanover in 2012 to accommodate its growth. In 2015, that facility doubled in size. It employs about 200, he said.
“We now have 300,000 square feet of production and office space to continue to deliver to our customers quickly,” Long said. “We take pride in our speed to market which is why we continually reinvest in the company and our equipment.”
In fact, he said the company keeps three million tubes and cores in stock every day, so orders placed by 4 p.m. can be sent out that day.
The latest expansion, a $4 million investment in infrastructure and software, will further streamline production, Long said.
The improved technology, infrastructure, and software systems solidifies Yazoo’s commitment to finding the best solutions for their nationwide customer-base and will be fully operational by the first quarter of 2024, he said.
