Thilmany’s Kaukauna Mill was founded in 1883 as Thilmany Pulp and Paper Company. It operated independently until acquired by Hammermill in 1969. The Nicolet Mill in De Pere began operations in 1892 under Kimberly-Clark and was closed in 1922. The businesses were reestablished in 1927 operating under the ownership of the Wisconsin Industrialists Group, which was acquired by Hammermill in 1985. Both the Kaukauna and Nicolet Mills joined International Paper as part of the Hammermill acquisition just one year later.

The Kaukauna and Nicolet paper mills operated as part of International Paper’s Industrial Papers Business until June of 2005, when the business was acquired by Kohlberg & Company – a private equity firm based out of Mt. Kisco, NY. Today, Kohlberg serves as Thilmany’s exclusive stakeholder, and Thilmany Papers has become a business unit of Packaging Dynamics Corporation.