Lowndes County will lose 219 jobs in late April when the Domtar coated groundwood paper mill closes its doors.
The plant, which was bought from Weyerhaeuser in 2007 and is located next to Weyerhaeuser”s facilities on Old Macon Road, has been operating “on and off over the past few years,” according to Tammy Waters, manager of communications and government relations for Domtar. The mill closed when necessary for “down days” to save money in light of shrinking demand for coated paper, but the company has decided to sell its share in coated paper, used for magazines, to NewPage Corporation.
“Despite our employees” and management”s best efforts, the mill continues to be unprofitable quarter after quarter,” said Waters.
Ohio-based NewPage is not purchasing the Domtar plant, but rather the product lines and trademarks of three Domtar products. Kent Walker, vice president of operations and site manager for Weyerhaeuser”s Columbus facility, said he saw no chance Weyerhaeuser would be interested in buying back the facility.
“I can”t speak for our board of directors or strategic managers, but (paper) is not in our core business. Right now we”re in timberlands, cellulose fibers, and our eye-level business, which is wood, engineered products and, finally, our real estate and home-building divisions,” said Walker. “We disposed of all our paper-related businesses.”
Waters was unaware if Domtar planned to gradually slow operations and release employees or cut the entire staff in April. Employees were notified of the closing Tuesday, the same day Domtar publicly announced the closure.
Brenda Lathan, vice president of economic development for the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link, said the state has already been contacted regarding the closure. A rapid response team from the Department of Employment Security will be dispatched to assist workers in finding new employment or training opportunities.
Waters said Domtar will also help employees when possible.
“We”re going to work with the effected employees and the community to help mitigate the impact of this closure. We”ll take appropriate measures to assist all employees in accordance with our policies,” said Waters.
Lathan says the closure will represent the Columbus area”s largest layoff since 2000, when Johnson Electric laid off 380 employees.
“There”s going to be a trickle-down effect as far as the community because (the newly unemployed) will not be shopping as much, probably buying fewer groceries, keeping cars longer and not eating out as much,” said Lathan. “It may not be a major effect (on local economy). It depends on how many (Domtar employees) live and shop in Lowndes.”
Link officials and community leaders intend to meet with Domtar corporate representatives in the near future to discuss what can be done to help, including finding a buyer for the facility.
Charleigh Ford, former vice president of economic development for the Link, says Domtar originally planned to add more facilities when it bought the plant in 2007, but the economic downturn put an end to those plans.
When Ford began working in economic development in 1985, Weyerhaeuser was running the lightweight coated paper machine now owned by Domtar before adding a pulp machine and doubling the size of its facility.
Many of the employees working in Weyerhaeuser”s coated paper mill went to work for Domtar when the company bought the mill.
“(The site) is very valuable to the community. It”s a big part of the tax base. There”s still well over $1 billion invested out there if you count Weyerhaeuser and Domtar together,” said Ford. “I hope we can get something else in there.”
Domtar manufactures a number of paper products, but the Columbus mill was its only coated groundwood paper production facility.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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