First Quality selects Defiance for a $984 million tissue plant

Defiance selected for tissue manufacturing

First Quality Tissue has selected Defiance, Ohio, for a planned $984 million towel and tissue plant. The company announced the location on 24 February 2025. Its new campus will accommodate two thru-air-dried paper machines and converting facilities, with the first machine expected to operate in early 2028.

The project commitments include:

A 1.6-million-square-foot production facility.
More than 400 new jobs.
$22.5 million in new annual payroll by 2032.

First Quality

Two machines and an existing production base

First Quality had announced the two-machine expansion on 14 August 2024, before selecting its location. At that time, the first machine was scheduled for 2027, with the second expected approximately 18 months after the first began production.

The expansion will add to a manufacturing network that, at the August announcement, operated eight TAD machines at two sites: Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and Anderson, South Carolina. The investment includes converting facilities alongside the new paper machines. First Quality identified growing customer and consumer demand as the reason for the expansion.

Infrastructure funding for the industrial corridor

The Baltimore Avenue Industrial Corridor in Defiance had already received a state infrastructure commitment. On 29 July 2024, Governor Mike DeWine announced an award of more than $14.6 million to the Defiance County Commissioners for the 1,000-acre site. The Ohio Controlling Board approved the award at its meeting that day.

The funding was designated for new water and wastewater infrastructure, supplementing utilities already present. It also covered road access and management of rail access north of the site, including new construction from Route 424 and Whetstone Road. The corridor was the first location selected for support from the All Ohio Future Fund.

The Ohio General Assembly provided $750 million for the fund in its operating budget. Eligible project costs included public roadwork, water and wastewater facilities, design and engineering, demolition, wetland mitigation, utility gap funding and one-time site improvements. Program guidelines required recipients to secure site occupants within five years.

First Quality is a family-owned group manufacturing, selling and distributing branded and private-label absorbent hygiene, paper and packaging products. Its customers operate in healthcare, retail and commercial channels. The tissue expansion forms part of that manufacturing portfolio.