HOWARD ?A Green Bay paper converting plant hopes to turn the tide of the paper industry by adding 150 jobs by the end of the year, thanks to a $1 million tax credit from the state.

The Hattiesburg Paper Corp. ?which is based in Hattiesburg, Miss., and owned by Green Bay Converting President Greg Santaga ?will use the money to help fund a $25 million project to update the company's plant.

The addition of new technology will expand the plant's operations and require additional workers ?primarily operators, Santaga says. The company produces a variety of napkins and paper products for the food service industry.

"We're starting from scratch and have an ability to use this area's resources," Santaga said. Many of the 50 employees he has hired since he bought the company in January 2005 have been displaced workers from area layoffs.

Wisconsin has lost more than 30 percent of the work force at paper mills, pulp mills and converting operations since the late 1990s, according to the Wisconsin Paper Council.

Last year, Georgia-Pacific Corp. slashed about 400 jobs at Green Bay mills. In March, Kimberly-Clark announced it was closing two mills in Menasha and Neenah, leading to another 700 lost jobs. Mills in Appleton, Denmark and Ashwaubenon also experienced layoffs.

Despite the grim outlook, Santaga said he's confident his company can help reinvigorate the local economy and stimulate the job market. The operating jobs he proposes that will make up the majority of new positions will require some level of experience, but the Hattiesburg Corp. will also provide the necessary training.

Likewise, Gov. Jim Doyle touted initiatives to upgrade the manufacturing industry as a critical component in competing in a global economy.

"We are a state that makes things," Doyle said on Wednesday as he presented Santaga with a check indicating the tax credit amount. "We know that manufacturing is changing. We have to work to make sure we have a trained and educated work force."

Wisconsin's exports ?led primarily by manufacturing ?have gone up 40 percent in the last three years, Doyle said.

The money for the project comes from a Department of Commerce Enterprise Development Zone credit ?it's a tax incentive for new businesses whose projects will affect areas with high unemployment.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Green Bay's unemployment rate in April was about 5.1 percent, which is slightly higher than the national 4.7 percent rate.