As Boise White Paper gears up for its 100th anniversary this year, a look back at the last century reveals a town and mill whose fortunes and histories are deeply intertwined.

Boise is the economic lifeblood of International Falls and surrounding Koochiching County. The mill is the largest employer for both with an estimated 830 full time equivalents — an astounding number for a town with only about 6,700 residents.

Bob Anderson, Boise White Paper spokesman, has worked at the mill for the past 49 years in that century. He’s witnessed many changes during his career, including a number of technology improvements to the papermaking process. But the mill’s importance to International Falls hasn’t changed, he said.

“I think it’s fair to say it is International Falls,” he said.

Wayne Brandt, executive vice president of Minnesota Forest Industries and the Timber Producers Association, echoes the mill’s enormous local impact.

“That mill has been that town,” he said. “It’s why people live there.”

Boise, Inc. also anchors the region’s forest products sector. The company is the largest forest products employer, and generated $481 million in revenues in 2008, the latest data available. The mill’s annual payroll, more than $60 million, is about 20 percent of the total wages paid by Minnesota pulp, paper and board producers, according to Minnesota Forest Industries.

Anderson said Boise also spends more than $100 million in the region annually for goods and services and has invested about $200 million during the last 20 years for environmental upgrades at its facilities.

The story tying this northern border town to the paper industry began with the vision of Edward Wellington (E.W.) Backus, who established his homestead on the Rainy River in 1900. According to a company history, Backus began construction of a dam to harness power for the new mill and developed a rail line system to transport pulpwood. On June 10, 1910, the first newsprint was produced from Minnesota and Ontario (MANDO) Paper Co.’s No. 1 paper machine.

The mill operated as MANDO until 1965, when acquired by Boise Cascade. The International Falls mill was resold twice in the last decade, first to Madison Dearborn Partners LLC in 2004 then Aldebra 2 Acquisition Corp. in 2008. In the 2004 deal, the mill’s extensive forestlands were sold to Forest Capital Partners in a $1.65 billion cash deal.

The mill shifted production from newsprint to fine white papers in 1949. Today, Boise produces office paper, label and release papers, base sheets and business and specialty printing grades. Average production is 1,575 tons per day for all product lines, with shipments exceeding 530,000 tons annually.

Virtually every business in the Falls community feels the economic impact of the company, directly or indirectly, said Richard Thompson, co-owner of Northern Lumber, a family-owned lumberyard and hardware store. “Boise is the main employer here,” he said. “If there’s a big layoff at Boise, people pull in their horns and don’t spend anything. Boise in International Falls is like mining on the Iron Range: When the mining stops, (the local economy) stops.”

U.S. Census data confirm there’s a deep connection between mill and community. In 2000, Boise reported employment at 1,140 FTEs. As the mill has downsized, so has area population. From 2000 to 2008, Koochiching County lost nearly 8 percent of residents. Since late 2004, the Boise work force has remained relatively stable.

Last year brought some good news to this mill town: parent Boise, Inc. improved its financial performance, even in the deep recession. It reported third quarter 2009 net profits (the last figures available) at $48.2 million compared with $4.4 million in the year-earlier quarter. Profitability improved because debt was restructured and costs moderated, president and chief executive Alexander Toeldte wrote in a prepared statement. He also attributed “good demand in our core office papers and agricultural-based packaging products, and continued growth in our label and release, flexible packaging, and premium office paper markets.”

Brandt of Minnesota Forest Industries welcomes that development, noting Boise remains a key component of Northeastern Minnesota’s economic strength.

“Boise has been very important to the region,” he said. “It’s the northern anchor of the forest products industry.”

A committee of mill employees and International Falls Chamber of Commerce members are planning a 100th anniversary community celebration. Anderson said the target date is Friday, June 25.

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