By Charlie Passut | Suffolk News-Herald
Published Saturday, January 23, 2010
FRANKLIN—Local officials say confidential negotiations involving International Paper Co. and about 20 renewable energy companies have been taking place and that IP has taken some prospects on-site to tour the facilities at the Franklin mill.
Isle of Wight County Department of Economic Development director Lisa Perry said Friday that some, but not all, of the prospects had toured the mill as recently as last week.
© January 25, 2010
By Michael Schwartz | Inside Business
As the story goes, 10 years ago Isle of Wight County decided it was important to “get in the economic development game.”
That’s how the county’s director of economic development, Lisa Perry, tells it.
So a plan was devised to get into the game by creating a giant commerce park, taking advantage of the wealth of land in the surrounding area. Using taxpayer dollars, the county went to work.
Fast-forward to 2010 and the county now believes its Shirley T. Holland Intermodal Park carries enough clout that a private
developer will want to come in and buy and build out the park’s 1,000-acre third phase.
By Philip Walzer
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 25, 2010
Opportunity Inc. will sponsor a job fair Wednesday in Franklin geared to employees of the International Paper mill, which will close this year.
The job fair will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Regional Workforce Development Center at Paul D. Camp Community College, 100 N. College Drive.
Free and open to the public, it is targeted to current and former workers of International Paper and their spouses and others who think their jobs will be affected by the mill’s closure.
Robert Sharak, a spokesman for Opportunity Inc., a regional work-force agency, said he expected as many as 40 representatives of employers and educational and training programs to attend.
For more information, call (757) 569-6082, (757) 461-7537 or (757) 514-7737. The event will be co-sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors, Paul D. Camp and Farmers Bank.
