Out of bankruptcy proceedings that concluded in 2020, the company which bought the former Klausner sawmill in Enfield  has met its job creation goals.

Halifax County Board of Commissioners Monday approved the discharge and satisfaction letter presented by Binderholz, which now owns the once beleaguered sawmill.

In January commissioners approved an amended contingent obligations rider between Binderholz and the county, Economic Development Director Cathy Scott told the board. 

Under the initial COR approved as part of a settlement approved in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the district of Delaware which conveyed Klausner to Binderholz in 2021, Binderholz was obligated to create 150 full-time jobs in Enfield by January 8 of last year.

However, the county and Binderholz extended the compliance testing date an additional 12 months and amended the compliance testing period to August 1, 2023 through July 31. That amendment also reduced the company’s employee commitment from 150 to 120 employees. “That was the result of post-COVID, issues with hiring and things of that nature,” she said.

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Binderholz provided staff with a copy of its quarterly tax and wage reports filed each quarter with the state Division of Employment Security during the 12-month compliance testing period. 

The employment information documents that Binderholz has satisfied the employee commitment and retention obligations set forth in the COR. “They have exceeded the commitment they made of 120 jobs and if you use what the agreement states as the method to determine compliance. you use the highest employment number for the quarter. That highest number is 138.75 jobs which would be the highest average of jobs for that period,” Scott said.

County Attorney Glynn Rollins said Binderholz requested that the county execute the discharge and satisfaction agreement. “They have satisfied their obligation to exceed 120 jobs during the last 12 months, they’ve met their commitment. I think that their request for discharge and satisfaction is in order .”

Approval, which was unanimous, ends the county’s dealings with Binderholz, Rollins said 

Klausner was announced by former Governor Beverly Perdue in 2012 as an economic development project which would bring 350 jobs to Halifax County and represented what was to be a $130 million investment.

The motion by Klausner seeking approval of the settlement in bankruptcy court said the company was to be one of the first new sawmills built in the United States for some time. 

It was to use European technology “that would result in efficiencies of operations and production, and far greater utilization and less waste of raw materials,” and if successful would have brought a competitive advantage over domestic lumber mills. 

Construction of the sawmill began in 2014. 

Several setbacks and delays occurred during construction over the next several years, and the debtor’s sawmill never became fully operational, which caused a drain on liquidity, documents reviewed in the case show.

In December of 2020 a federal bankruptcy court judge signed an order approving the sale of Klausner II to the Austria-based Binderholz.

Binderholz  submitted a bid of $83.4 million. The closing was in January of 2021 and in April of last year Binderholz celebrated the grand opening of the Enfield facility.