Sofidel nears Duluth expansion completion, hiring about 70 workers
Sofidel’s Duluth plant is already cutting paper into consumer goods, and the company still needs about 70 workers as its $200 million expansion wraps up.
Sofidel is finishing its $200 million Duluth expansion while still trying to hire about 70 workers. Two of the plant’s seven production lines are already running, and finished products are coming off the line as the company cuts large paper rolls into toilet paper, paper towels and napkins.
Minnesota announced the project on Oct. 17, 2024. Gov. Tim Walz announced that Sofidel would invest $200 million in Duluth with help from $5 million in state business-expansion funding. The expansion would create at least 160 new jobs and triple the company’s Duluth workforce. The current need for about 70 workers would account for nearly half of that minimum job target.
Sofidel acquired the Duluth site in January 2024, then held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 11, 2025, with company CEO Luigi Lazzareschi, Walz and Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert in attendance. The finished project is expected to be nearly 600,000 square feet.
The expansion is adding a converting facility and warehouse. The site is an integrated production plant where raw materials are processed, manufactured and packaged into finished goods, with an automated warehouse for storage and distribution. The project also includes a converting line, auxiliary materials storage, a fully automated finished-goods warehouse and a dedicated shipping building.
Workers are training and installing equipment, while automation will handle more of the movement of finished goods once the warehouse systems are fully online. Robots or laser-guided vehicles will move product into the warehouse as the expansion reaches completion.
Sofidel is advertising a hiring fair open to applicants with experience, along with people who are just graduating high school or looking for a career change. The openings cover manufacturing, warehouse or shipping jobs.
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