Potsdam Specialty Paper qualifies for disaster loan, but fund is out of money

TOWN OF POTSDAM, New York (WWNY) – After damaging flooding in August, a St. Lawrence County paper mill got word it would get a $2 million loan to help it recover but then learned there was no money left in the fund.

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Potsdam Specialty Paper was badly damaged after 4 to 6 inches of rain fell in St. Lawrence County with the remnants of Hurricane Debby.

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The water flooded the mill’s basement and extensively damaged its electrical system. Production stopped for a few weeks and around 40 workers were laid off.

The mill is up and running, but Potsdam Town Supervisor Marty Miller says it needs help.

He says the plant got a letter saying it qualified for a $2 million loan from the Small Business Administration but then learned the agency couldn’t give the loan because the specific disaster program Potsdam Specialty Paper qualified for was out of money.

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“These are the types of things that just can not happen. This has got to stop. Somehow government seems to be able to manufacture funds for all types of things that some of us would say aren’t a necessity. Well, this is a necessity,” he said.

Miller says the loan would help fill the gap for when the mill was not in production. Around 75 people work at Potsdam Specialty Paper. Miller calls the more than 100-year-old business a backbone of the community’s economy.

The SBA tells 7NEWS, “SBA disaster funds were exhausted as of October 15th, 2024, and without additional funding from Congress, the SBA cannot make new offers for its direct, low-interest, long-term disaster loans to survivors.”

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