In the first year of its second century in International Falls, Boise Inc.’s paper mill manager reports that the mill is extremely stable and doing well financially.

Bert Brown brought that message to a luncheon hosted by the International Falls Area Chamber of Commerce Thursday.

And while the mill and its company face challenges, it plans to continue playing a role in International Falls for a long time, he said.

“Our intent is to support and help this community grow,” said Brown. “We want to be here another 100 years.”

From 2008 to this year, Brown said the company has seen an increase in profits.

“Income from the mill has increased year after year,” he said, adding that the tough economy has not impacted the mill as hard as other businesses.

In an effort to continue that trend, Brown said the company is attempting to reduce its costs, including the resources it uses in the mill. That means using less chemicals — good for the bottom line and the environment, he said.

In addition, he said the company is considering ways it can increase the amount of energy it produces, including steam and to consider using larger turbines.

“If we can generate more of our own energy we can stay in the game with our competitors,” he said.

Paper continues to be the backbone of the company, Brown said, bringing in its largest sales and allowing the company to pay down debt and acquire other companies in an effort to spur growth.

“We will continue to put money into paper,” he said.

The company also relies on packaging products, including corrugated container board and specialty paper and flexible packaging.

A decline in the market for cut-size paper is important to the Falls mill, Brown said. And while not alarming, it is something to be considered, he said. Cut-size paper, produced by the mill’s No. 1 paper machine, has declined by 2.5 to 5 percent per year, he said.

“We’ve got to compete, and that means we have to improve our performance and stabilize our operation.”

And as a result, the company is looking at market segments around packaging for growth.

He said the No. 4 machine will produce 9,000 more tons of flexible packaging and free sheet paper.

In addition, he said the company Thursday acquired the Hexacomb protective packaging business of Pregis Corporation. Hexacomb is a leader in kraft-paper-based honeycomb protective packaging and operates 12 manufacturing facilities across six countries.

And in March, through an investment group, the company acquired Tharco Packaging Inc., which expands the company’s presence in packaging markets.

“They are not large companies, but it fits our growth strategy,” he said, adding that the acquisitions will help Boise Inc. play a larger role globally.

Brown reported that recent highlights for the company as being included on Forbes Magazines list of contenders in March; a new agreement with Office Max, which he said is very important to the local mill, and a partnership in May with General Mills for the Box Tops for Education program.

Safety continues to be a core value for the local mill, he said. The goal is to be incident free at the mill. It is now at 1.27 recordable incident rate, which means 10 employees were hurt and two missed work, he said.

Brown said the company continues to be concerned about the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed boiler MACT (maximum achievable control technology) rule, which could cost the mill $50 million to $70 million to implement. While the company supports reducing emissions, he said the rule is unreasonable, and that no technology known would help the mill meet the rule.

Brown explained vacation of the Burner Road, a portion of County State Aid Highway 332, will be sought this month. Brown said the request is based on safety concerns for the public. He also announced that the company’s annual outage would occur May 7 and run for seven days.

In addition, Brown thanked Koochiching County officials for offering more wood for sale, saying that the wood is closer to the mill than other sources and raises revenue for county taxpayers.

Prior to the presentation, Brown introduced five members of his management team who have come to the mill in the last year and a half.

He said it’s important that Boise continue to bring “energetic, educated people to help maintain our performance and stability.”

The community’s vitality is important in attracting those people to the mill, he said.

“We want the downtown to thrive,” he said.