Crane Stationery Being Revived Under New Owner

Staff ReportsiBerkshires
12:28PM / Thursday, March 14, 2024Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The venerable Crane Stationery is turning a page with its new owner.

WP Strategic Holdings says it has completed its acquisition of 200-year-old company, according The Albany Business Review.

Todd Kletter, managing partner of WP Strategic Holdings, told the Review that he expects it will restart operations on Friday.

About 90 percent of the employees abruptly laid off in February when its parent company Mohawk Fine Papers was acquired by an international firm are being told they will be rehired with the seniority and benefits intact. They expected to receive offer letters today.

The Albany, N.Y.-based consulting and investment firm had Crane listed in its portfolio within days of its closure and stated its intention to acquire the company.

"We are thrilled to welcome Crane Stationery into the WP Strategic Holdings family," Kletter said in a statement to the Review. "Crane Stationery's unparalleled reputation for quality and craftsmanship aligns perfectly with our vision of supporting companies with a strong heritage and a dedication to excellence."

Mohawk Fine Papers of Cohoes, N.Y., purchased Crane Stationery in 2018 with plans to expand the operation. But it closed the North Adams plant in 2020 and laid off nearly 200 employees.

Fedrigoni, a specialty paper and luxury packaging manufacturer based in Italy, acquired the paper company in February. Mohawk, family owned since 1931, had entered into a manufacturing agreement with Fedrigoni in 2022 and became its North American distributor last July.

Some Crane employees had been offered jobs in Cohoes, where the printing of Crane was to continue, and remotely. Those workers were abruptly locked out of the company's email and servers on Feb. 14.

Kletter told the Review that Fedrigoni had placed Crane's assets in a holding company while negotiating with his team and Crane will lease space in Cohoes from Fedrigoni. He said retired Mohawk CEO Thomas D. O'Connor Jr. had helped facilitate the deal but has no stake in Crane's revival.

"We are excited about the possibilities that this acquisition brings," Kletter said in a statement. "This acquisition will enable Crane to maintain its growth initiatives, expand its reach, and continue the legacy of delivering premium stationery products to our discerning customers."

He also told the Review he has been assuring Crane's customers, who had been cut off with no explanation. The Crane website, which for weeks had a notice that the site was down for maintenance as "We are taking a moment to reflect" is back up.

Kletter, who founded WP Strategic Holdings in 2020, had previously consulted for Crane and is currently the interim chief operating officer.

Offer letters to employees say the the transition will "unfold in several phases" but they can "rest assured that your wages and payment schedule will remain unchanged."

"Our goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible for you and keep benefits as closely aligned to what had been offered in the past. We appreciate your patience as we finalize these details."

Tags: Crane,

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North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

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