The closure of International Paper Co.’s Franklin mill has few silver linings, but one is the unprecedented regional cooperation on economic development that has resulted from arguably the single most traumatic economic event in Western Tidewater’s history.
Within days of IP’s announcement last fall, Franklin, Southampton County and Isle of Wight County joined forces and tackled the economic recovery as one.
One of the early outcomes of that cooperation is a regional marketing campaign dubbed the “Sweet Spot,” aimed at convincing the warehousing, distribution and logistics industry that our region is prime territory for a job sector that is projected to see rapid growth in the decades ahead.
The slogan is clever and accurate. We commend economic developers Lisa Perry in Isle of Wight County and John Smolak in Franklin/Southampton County for their efforts in developing the campaign. We hope Hampton Roads and Virginia economic development officials will get behind it and help spread the word: Western Tidewater indeed is a sweet spot.
WINDSOR — Businesses are divided about a renewed push by Gov. Bob McDonnell to realign U.S. 460 — a project that would include rerouting U.S. 460 to go around Windsor rather than through the heart of town.
“It’s going to affect business,” said Chiquilla Gholston, assistant manager at Daily Queen. She said her restaurant is a magnet for locals, as well as tourists traveling from the Richmond and Norfolk areas.
“We’re extremely busy in the summer,” she said.
Any construction might hurt restaurants or gas stations, but not all businesses say it would be bad. Many of the businesses along U.S. 460 are dependent primarily on local customers.
By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News
Published Saturday, April 24, 2010
RICHMOND—Gov. Bob McDonnell has announced that two state agencies will partner with Isle of Wight County to conserve more than 2,500 acres of forested land, some of which is along the Blackwater River.
According to a statement from the governor’s office, the Virginia Department of Forestry and the Department of Conservation and Recreation will help the county preserve 2,507 acres which helps protect a source of drinking water in Hampton Roads.
“The conservation of these 2,500 acres is another step forward toward our goal of conserving 400,000 additional acres of Virginia land by the end of my term,” McDonnell said Friday.
By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News
Published Saturday, April 24, 2010
FRANKLIN—People traveling through Franklin may have noticed a large bus with a satellite dish atop at various places in town on Wednesday.
The bus, owned by Virginia State University and used by the school for various outreach programs, was on-hand to help offer assistance to people who are either considering starting a new business, or are looking for ways to improve an existing one.
“We help people start their business or help them grow their existing businesses,” Tammy Farmer, business services manager with the Virginia Department of Business Assistance, said Wednesday. “We’re out here today at thinking about some of the folks who might want to take an opportunity to start their own business.”
Virginia’s Distribution Central Brochure (PDF)
Jim Councill
Published Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Well, an era has ended. The 123-year history of the famed and benevolent Camp Brothers — from Camp Manufacturing to Union Camp and finally International Paper — has reached its final crescendo as a world-class manufacturer of fine paper.
The finest in the land, made by the finest employees any company could dream of having. Thanks to the most recent 1,100 employees and the thousands of others who have over these 123 years put Franklin and Isle of Wight and Southampton counties on the world map of outstanding products and product development.
By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News
Published Wednesday, April 21, 2010
FRANKLIN—International Paper Co. will terminate 350 workers, most of them hourly employees, beginning over three days in mid-May as it prepares to shutdown its mill, eliminating 1,100 jobs.
IP made the announcement in a letter dated March 12 to Isle of Wight County Board Chairman Phillip Bradshaw in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News
Published Thursday, April 22, 2010
WAKEFIELD—Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday his consortium is one of “a couple” of final bidders to purchase facilities at the International Paper Co. mill in Franklin.
“They’ve narrowed it down to a couple of bidders and I’m one of them,” McAuliffe said at the Shad Planking festivities in Wakefield. “We’ll see what happens. The good news is that the paper mill will stay in existence as a new type of energy entity.”
McAuliffe and a group of investors including Peter O’Keefe, a longtime political ally, reportedly have made an offer to purchase some or all of the infrastructure at the mill to convert it into a biomass energy power plant.
By Nicholas Langhorne (Contact) | Tidewater News
Published Thursday, April 22, 2010
ISLE OF WIGHT—Local economic development officials are hoping that state backing will help entice companies to set up shop in the region.
“We are branding Franklin, Southampton and Isle of Wight County as Virginia’s Distribution Central or “the Sweet Spot,”” Lisa Perry, Isle of Wight County’s director of economic development, told the county’s Board of Supervisors last week.
Perry said her office, along with Franklin-Southampton Economic Development, Inc., has been working with state and regional officials to develop a strategy to market the region and its strengths, including the proximity to the ports and the skilled workforce.
“I think this is great,” said Phillip Bradshaw, chairman of the Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors.
The paper mill that had been the cornerstone of Isle of Wight County’s tax revenue for nearly a century produced its last roll of paper last week.
The closing was visibly obvious when steam stopped coming out of the smokestacks. The final machine shut down at about 4:20 p.m. Thursday.
International Paper’s announcement last fall that it would close not only caught its 1,100 workers off guard, but also Isle of Wight officials, who estimated the county will lose about $6 million in tax revenue beginning in 2012.
The county didn’t see it coming, said Carrsville Supervisor Phillip Bradshaw on many occasions since the October 2009 announcement.
