Feb. 3--GLENS FALLS -- The 144-year-old Finch Paper mill here has its first new leader since the 1980s.

Richard Carota, who started more than 50 years ago sweeping floors at the mill for $1.35 an hour and rose to plant manager at age 32, announced his retirement Monday. He will remain on the company's board as chairman.

Carota, 71, was succeeded immediately by Joseph Raccuia of Wilton, formerly chief executive of SCA Tissue-North America, a producer of paper napkins and other paper products used in restaurants, hospitals and schools. SCA has a plant across the Hudson River in South Glens Falls.

Finch, which was acquired by two private equity firms in 2007 when it was still known as Finch, Pruyn & Co., declined to make either Carota or Raccuia available for comment.

In a statement, Andrew Bursky, chairman of Atlas Holdings LLC, which owns the plant with Blue Wolf Capital Management LLC, called Carota "a gifted leader and a smart, tough and tireless competitor."

Finch produces 250,000 tons of uncoated printing paper annually that is used in advertising and publishing.

Carota's retirement comes just four days after the company said it would eliminate 43 of the 278 white-collar jobs at the plant. In November, Finch temporarily laid off 44 of its 558 hourly employees, although those blue-collar mill workers were brought back in December.

The job cuts were blamed on the global financial crisis and "unprecedented challenges" in the paper industry that have cost nearly 200,000 jobs nationwide since 2006.

Glens Falls and Warren County have been diversifying their economies, creating technology, health care and medical device jobs to replace the mill jobs.

"Nevertheless, due to (Finch's) long history in the city, and the fact that the company continues to be a major employer and taxpayer, changes at the mill are big news," said Timothy Weidner, executive director of Chapman Historical Museum in Glens Falls.

The new CEO, Raccuia, rose through the ranks much like Carota did. He joined what was then Encore Paper Co. in South Glens Falls in 1992 as a regional sales manager, and was named CEO in 1998 after heading marketing and sales.

When SCA purchased Encore in 2001, he was named head of SCA's North American operations, which are based in Philadelphia. He helped increase SCA's annual sales from $750 million to $1 billion. The company also has a plant in Greenwich, Washington County.

Leonard Fosbrook, president of Warren Economic Development Corp., the county's economic development arm, said that while Carota will be missed, the hiring of Raccuia, who left SCA last spring, is a good sign from the private-equity owners, who have plans for an $80 million expansion at the Finch plant as well as other investments.

"The hiring of Joe is one of those investments," Fosbrook said. "They're investing in management."

Larry Rulison can be reached at 454-5504 or by e-mail at lrulison@timesunion.com.

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