ROCK CITY FALLS, N.Y. — In 1926, Frank Cottrell Sr. and his two sons founded a paper mill along the Kayaderosseras Creek in the foothills of the Adirondacks.
Now, 100 years and four generations later, the mill has been converted into the Cottrell Paper Company, manufacturing electrical insulation and specialty papers as well as turning cellulose into paper that is used for insulation in electrical equipment in its 100,000-square-foot plant in Saratoga County.
Earlier this week, Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R,C-Ballston) met with brothers Josh and Jimmy Cottrell, who serve as President and Vice President of Cottrell Paper Company, to celebrate the history of their family business, which officially became part of the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry as of Dec. 12.
“We have such a rich history here in Saratoga County. I have no shortage of businesses to designate, but I’m so happy to be here today with both of you,” Walsh shared. “You drive by things and drive around the area, and you don’t really know what’s going on … you come into a business (like this one) and then you come out and really realize what’s going on.
“It’s almost like a secret that I got to learn by walking through — and the fact that you have such an impact on the people that are your neighbors, that live right around here, and the fact that you hire generations of them, you’re doing something that’s so unique and different.
“It truly is one of the best parts of my job to be able to go out and be able to support the businesses that are trying so hard to make it in New York, and the fact that you’re starting off on such a great year in your 100 is just great.”
Josh noted that receiving this designation was truly an honor and that it really shows the years of dedication and hard work that not just his family but the paper company’s employees put in, as well as the impact that their family business has, noting that without Cottrell, there would be a lapse in certain items that people across the world need.
“A majority of our paper goes to China right now because that’s where they need the most electricity. India, Dubai, all these places are coming to us asking for our products, because they’re the premium, best products in the world, and they want their equipment to be the best and last the longest,” Josh explained. “It just shows that we’re getting recognized for the hard work and the long history that our forefathers have put together for us.”
Operationally, Cottrell Paper’s production is approximately 70% wood-pulp based products and 25-28% cotton pulp-based products, with a small remaining percentage made from various other materials. Josh estimates that around 90% of their business is focused on electrical applications, such as components for transformers and motors.
The remaining 10% serves specialized uses, including ballistics.
And Cottrell Paper works hard to meet the needs of the clients, producing a huge variety of products from the paper casing on paper shotgun shells and the paper encasing the engines on toy rockets, to its Copaco – Rag Paper, Kraft papers and pressboards which are found in household appliances, automobiles and power systems around the world — with Josh adding that the company is exporting about 70% of its business.
“No one would know what we do unless we tell them, because our papers in small horsepower machines are like windshield wiper motors, your washing machines, your power drills — all that stuff has a little bit of our paper in it, and without us telling you, you would never know that factory in NY made it,” Josh explained. “Our biggest product right now is a wire wrap that goes in large power transformers that power stadiums and buildings and stuff like that.”
But it took a lot of work to get to the point that they are now, as Josh shared that when he and his brother began working at the plant 20 years ago, the business wasn’t doing so well.
Now though, as opposed to being off 23 weeks his first year Cottrell Paper is not only a 24/7 operation now, but they were also able to give all employees bonus this last year for the first time in company history and just, as of last week, experienced their biggest week to date in sales, receiving $2 million in orders while, all in all, Cottrell is currently a $12 million a year company.
“I’m Pulp Paper engineer, I went to school just to basically work in the family business, which is tough to do when your company is kind of hurting and you don’t know — My dad told me you ‘can do that, but I don’t know if there’s gonna be a job for you when you get out of school’ and I said, ‘Well, let me take care of that, we’ll work together and see where we end up,’” Josh said.
“And, you can see how things can change, how if you work hard, you can succeed. We’re actually looking forward to the future and seeing what else we can do, because we’re not going to stop here. We’ll continue to try to grow and continue to provide more jobs to people in this local area and see where we end up … It’s been a long road, but it’s been a fun road, and the future is very, very bright for Cottrell Paper Company.”
The brothers don’t want to stop the momentum, with expectations of this being a $16 million year and the plant basically reaching as big as it can possibly get in its current space, with Josh pointing to the fact that Josh further pointed to that while he doesn’t know exactly how much paper the company will end up making at the end of the year, but it’s pretty much all sold already, with ideas such as considering expanding operations into another old, nearby plant they own which is currently being utilized for storage as well as buying new and upgrading machinery within the plant to help increase production.
“We can produce anywhere, depending on the grade, from 100,000 pounds to 250,000 pounds a week, and we’re shipping truckloads out here,” Josh shared. “We also do 50-pound packages for people, and then we’ll do 44,000-pound truck loads depending on the customer. So we don’t make a lot of money on every order, but there are some orders that we make a lot of money on, and some orders that we get by on.
“We’re also growing some other products that we think will be the future.”
Some of these new products include the 100% hemp paper that is being manufactured under their new venture, Mill 26, which specializes in “ doing what other paper manufacturers cannot.” One such product is the 100% hemp paper bag, which the brothers think will truly transform the market.
“Basically, back in COVID, we became really slow for the first time in a while. We said, ‘Well, we got some time, what do we want to do that may be different out there,’ so we all put our heads together instead and realized no one’s making 100% hemp paper in this world,” Josh explained. “There were some blends out there and some different things but we said, ‘well, maybe we could develop 100% hemp paper and maybe the world would want it or need it,’ so we developed this and we’re still the only ones in the world that can make 100% hemp paper at a thick version, and we’re just looking for applications for it right now.”
“We’ve never sold an end product in 98 years. It took us 98 years to sell an end product. We always sell it to all the big guys and they take tractor-trailer loads and then make whatever, so when we started making these, it’s a game changer,” Jimmy, who is president of Mill 26, while Josh is vice president, shared, adding that Mill 26 has seen real success with the cannabis industry.
“It seemed like when we did this (created Mill 26), it revived a lot of the energy in so many employees around here, just to see something new and not the same old thing out of the same old mill.”
Regarding the 100% hemp paper, Josh also shared the product has been what has gotten him in touch with more high-end companies than anything else they have ever produced, in part because of the sustainability aspect, and truly thinks this could be something Mill 26 grows into in the future.
“I think we have a couple of good things going, it’ll be the future and maybe something that we can grow into,” Josh said. “As the only ones in the world making thick hemp paper, and not many people know even what we do about that, because we’re not really we have a website that pushes a little bit, but we’re not out there trying to sell a lot of stuff right now because we’re so busy.”
And looking ahead, as the brothers move into this next century, a big hope is that they continue on the upwards trajectory, but also not to forget their history and the hard work the generations before them and their employees have put in to get them where they are now.
“It’s a great responsibility and achievement that we’ve been able to get to where we are, and as we go into this next 100 years to be able to say that this the first time in our history that we’ve been 24/7, that we’ve been even close to 50 employees and what we’re even thinking about growing beyond 50 employees is wild and something that my father probably never thought we’d see. Maybe we didn’t even think we’d see,” Josh said.
“I would love to see us continue to grow, I would love to see us employ more of the surrounding area if we possibly can, and I would like to see all our employees happy to work here. That’s my main goal: to have a working workforce and a work environment that people are proud to be part of. All our guys wear our gear, our Cottrell and our Mill 26 stuff here, and they wear it outside of here, because I think they’re happy to work here and I think they’re proud to work here.
“They’re excited to see where the company’s going and what we’re doing and what the future might bring. So that’s kind of where we are now, and what I see for the future. I’m just excited, and I’m hoping that our employees are excited with us.”
For more information about Cottrell Paper Company, visit https://www.cottrellpaper.com/.
Cottrell Paper Company is located at 1135 Rock City Road in Rock City Falls. (Emma Ralls – MediaNews Group)
Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh presented a New York State Assembly proclamation to Cottrell Paper Company to celebrate its induction into the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry. (Emma Ralls – Medianews Group)