Governor Walz Visits Duluth to Address Numerous Infrastructure Projects

DULUTH, Minn.– Minnesota Governor Tim Walz visited Duluth today to address two different infrastructure projects.

The first stop was for a groundbreaking ceremony at the Sofidel paper plant in Duluth.

The company announced a 200-million-dollar expansion for the facility.

With this expansion it will allow the facility to not only produce and package products but ship them out under the same roof.

The former ST Paper Mill turned into Sofidel back in 2023.

The company used to produce newspapers and magazines. But with media turning digital, they have switched to toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, alongside Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert and the Sofidel CEO attended this ceremony.

And this expansion not only will improve the facility, but the economy of Duluth as a whole.

“It’s still growing. I mean, U.S the growth is 1.5 to 2 percent. So, how I say- to local community, having a tissue operation on your region gives a strong point. Meaning this company is not going to disappear in the next 20 to 30 years,” said Luigi Lazzareschi, the CEO of Sofidel.

Through this expansion, the plant will introduce around 160 jobs to the northland.

And construction is expected to wrap up in 2026.

Later on, Governor Walz also visited the 148th Fighter Wing base.

The 148th Fighter Wing is a unit of the Minnesota Air National Guard located at Duluth Air National Guard Base.

He highlighted the much-needed upgrade for the facility’s 70-year-old hangar.

To redo the entire hangar, it would cost 28 million dollars.

But right now, Walz is hoping to pitch in 3 million for the first phase.

The goal is to allow for more efficient storage of bigger, newer jets, while creating a hangar that safer and stronger against Minnesota’s extreme weather year-round.

Governor Walz said, the base has showed up for the state, and now it’s time the state gives back to them.

“I think the state’s opportunity to upgrade this facility for numerous reasons. To make us more appealing, to get the next generation of fighters here, so we keep a man fighter wing up in Duluth. But it’s simply to provide the quality that the folks who work here deserve. And listening to the Colonel talking about it, when the weather goes bad, and we’re in a lightning warning, he said about twenty times out of the year, we have to shut down what’s happening in this hangar,” explained Gov. Tim Walz.

At this time, the design for the upgrade has been finalized.

Details about price, and timing for this project, if approved, is still up in the air.