BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (From The Advocate) -- Hood Container of Louisiana is installing new equipment at its St. Francisville paper manufacturing facility in a $61 million project that will add 10 jobs with an average salary of $51,450, plus benefits.

The plant employs 237 workers.

The two phases of the project include the installation of a modern press section on the facility's H1 paper machine to increase container board production and a recycling plant for reuse of corrugated containers to support increased its production. The investment amount was not disclosed.

The announcement was made by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Louisiana's economic development department began discussing the upgrade with Hood Container in August. The state offered the company an incentive package that includes a Modernization Tax Credit of $640,000. The company is also expected to use the state's Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.

The company acquired the St. Francisville paper mill from Amzak Capital Management LLC in October 2015. It complements Hood Container's corrugating-medium mill in New Johnsonville, Tennessee, and Hood's converting operations across the Southeast. The Hood Container Corp. was established in July 2012 with its purchase of the New Johnsonville mill from International Paper.

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