When an industry comes to town, most of the discussion revolves around economic impact — number of jobs created, pay rates for employees and the tax dollars it provides for our local governments and schools.

What is often overlooked in these broader discussions is the more personal stories of the employees themselves.

On Thursday, International Paper celebrated the 40th anniversary of the opening of its Lowndes County paper mill, using the occasion to commemorate one such employee. David Wells, who passed away in March at age 64, began working at the paper mill, then owned by Weyerhaeuser, during the mill’s construction in 1980. Wells was not a member of the executive leadership team at the mill. He was a rank-and-file employee, one of hundreds of mill workers at one of our area’s longest-operating industries.

Apart from his long tenure, Wells is not unlike all those workers, past and present, for whom the paper mill provided a good living, allowing them to raise families and contribute to their communities. Theirs are the stories that are often neglected as we look at the big numbers associated with new industry.

We are pleased that International Paper, which bought the paper mill in 2016, has continued to be an economic driver for our community and, like Weyerhaeuser before it, has continued the tradition of giving back to the community. That it took the time to honor David Wells is evidence that IP understands the importance of its workers, no matter their position.

We are often preoccupied with what’s new. As new industries have arrived, especially in the last 20 years, it’s easy to take long-standing companies like International Paper for granted.

Yet companies like IP, JTB Furniture in Columbus and Garan Manufacturing in Starkville, to name just a few, have set the stage for those industries that followed, providing stable, long-term jobs and contributing to our tax base for decades.

They are old and trusted friends in our business community.

As it is with our new industries, the products they produce are dispersed across the globe in many cases, but the greatest impact of their continuing presence is told by the stories of thousands of employees spanning generations of friends, family and neighbors.

On Thursday, International Paper helped us remember that by remembering one of its own.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.