Wednesday, January 13, 2010

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday that he will introduce a bill next week to set aside up to $100 million a year to coax overseas companies to move jobs to the United States.

“I’m tired of jobs continuing to exit this country and go abroad,” Warner said.

Speaking in Franklin, the Democrat said the bill would come too late to help workers at the International Paper mill, which will close later this year. But International Paper’s decision to shut the mill while maintaining others overseas, he said, reflects trends that the country is battling.

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By Allison T. Williams 247-4535
10:08 p.m. EST, January 8, 2010

ISLE OF WIGHT – The county wants to bring in a private developer to build and aggressively market property in Windsor’s Shirley T. Holland Intermodal Park.

The Isle of Wight Board of Supervisors on Thursday unanimously supported a proposal to launch a nationwide search for a private developer to buy and develop about 1,000 acres in the intermodal park’s third phase. The park has long been touted as an economic hot spot for the warehouses and distribution centers that will be needed as the traffic into the Port of Virginia ramps up in coming years.

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The new year brought a new and terrible set of problems for 166 employees of International Paper’s Franklin mill. Those folks and their families are the latest of IP’s workers to face unemployment as company continues with its plans to shutter the mill by the spring.

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Federal assistance extended
By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News
Published Saturday, December 26, 2009
FRANKLIN—The U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday that it has approved Trade Adjustment Assistance benefits to the 1,100 workers who will be affected by the closure of the International Paper Co. paper mill.
“It is wonderful news,” Franklin Mayor Jim Councill said Thursday. “Our congressional delegation has worked very hard for this and I am very appreciative of their efforts.”

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FRANKLIN—The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission has unveiled what it believes unemployment figures will look like once the International Paper Co. paper mill closes in the spring.

Economist James Clary said the HRPDC, using an economic impact software program from Regional Economic Model Inc. (REMI), estimates that the region will lose 2,850 jobs as a result of the mill’s closure. That figure includes 1,750 jobs indirectly tied to the mill.

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FRANKLIN—Faced with a looming deadline tied to more than $700,000 in grant money, the City of Franklin has entered into a contract to complete the build-out construction of the Franklin Business Incubator.

Meanwhile, International Paper Co. will announce sometime next month where it will set up offices for 35 customer service employees. The Incubator, located at 601 N. Mechanic St., is one of several locations in the area that the company is considering.

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Gov. Timothy M. Kaine awarded economic development incentives on Monday to the cities of Portsmouth and Franklin but denied bids by Norfolk and Suffolk to continue using the program.

“This is probably, if not the most valuable, certainly one of the most valuable tools that the state makes available to localities,” said Patrick Small, Portsmouth’s director of economic development.

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By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News Published Wednesday, December 2, 2009  FRANKLIN—While International Paper Co. must decide what to do with the equipment, buildings and infrastructure at its Franklin mill, it must also decide the fate of a network of wastewater-treatment facilities that support the mill, including a large holding pond in Suffolk. Mark Sauer, [...]

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