Frostburg paper products manufacturer looks to expand

Jul. 27—FROSTBURG — Allegany County officials announced Thursday that they are working with a Frostburg paper products manufacturer on plans to expand the business.

The potential expansion of Sierra Hygiene Products was discussed at the regular meeting of the Allegany County Board of Commissioners at the county office complex on Kelly Road.

Sierra Hygiene, a maker of toilet tissue, paper towels and napkins, is located in the Frostburg Industrial Park on Hoffman Hollow Road. The company opened in 2007 with a staff of 11 and now has 35 employees.

Jeff Barclay, county economic development director, said the county helped Sierra Hygiene expand their facility in 2014 when the manufacturer purchased a portion of Lot 8 and constructed a 67,000-square-foot building.

"I toured it the other day and it's a fantastic facility making paper products," said Barclay. "Now we are talking about the residual, the remainder of Lot 8. We hope to go into a purchase agreement with the company about doing further expansion up there."

Sierra Hygiene is a subsidiary of WebstaurantStore of Cumberland, with both operations owned by Clark Associates, the parent company located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

"They reached out to us and said we'd like to purchase the rest of Lot 8," said Barclay. "I believe it's 8.69 acres. It would be another building construction potentially. If we can get into a situation where we can arrange a purchasing agreement and move into a building component there will be more employees."

Barclay added, "There is nothing really written in stone at this time. But we are in formal negotiations for them to continue their expansion and get into other products, which will lead to employment and investment."

"That's exciting," said Dave Caporale, commission president. "I think we are witnessing companies that are continuing to reinvest and they've been here. They're a part of the working establishment and they see the future and want to continue to be a part of it."

Barclay said the company takes large rolls of toilet tissue and converts them into small rolls and packages them. They also do the same with paper towels and are hoping to get into napkins, hand soaps and dispensers.

"They see other areas, other avenues with paper products they can get into," said Barclay. "They were doing primarily wholesale and now they are getting into retail."

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.