Six years ago, Randy Betz lost his job at the International Paper mill as part of a corporate downsizing.
Now, as vice president of workforce development at Paul D. Camp Community College, he is helping hundreds of workers at the mill do what he did – find a new start. The mill stopped production last month and is expected to close in June.
In an interview at the school last week, Betz said he is encouraged by the number that have already found work. Most of those, he said, will not have to leave the area. What follows are excerpts from the interview.
As the afternoon shift change unfolded at International Paper Co.’s Franklin mill on Friday, change was in the air.
And on the ground.
Friday was the last day for 212 workers at the mill as it prepares to shut down for good this summer, eliminating 1,100 jobs. Many left their hard hats on the ground just outside the mill entrance. Dates of employment and other messages were scrawled on almost all of them.
“In God We Trust, Not IP.”
“That’s All Folks!”
“Good Luck Everyone!”
Oscar Babb of Franklin — an employee of the mill for 32 years, most of them as a millwright — crouched down to take pictures of the makeshift memorial of hard hats, boots and clothing.
“It was very sad,” Babb said. “It’s just like losing your family. No, it was losing family.”
The largest group of International Paper Co. workers, 348 total, will be terminated from their jobs at the paper mill this weekend.
Franklin Mill Communications Manager Desmond Stills said Thursday that after this weekend there would be about 250 workers left at the mill. That figure takes into account employees who have voluntarily left their jobs earlier.
SMITHFIELD -Thousands attended the opening two days of Homearama, which for the first time in its 29-year history is being held in Isle of Wight County.
Traditionally held in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Suffolk, Homearama is expected to attract 80,000 to 100,000 people to the Smithfield area to see eight fully-furnished, custom-built homes at Founders Pointe off Route 17 on James River’s Batten Bay. The event runs daily through Sunday, May 23.
Tidewater Builders Association sponsors the event, which features homes ranging from 2,900 to 3,800 square feet and priced from $500,000 to $695,000. Developed by East West Communities, Founders Pointe includes homes ranging from the mid-$400,000s to $1 million, a community clubhouse, swimming pool, playground, three miles of trails and an 844-foot pier overlooking the bay.
Homearama is open noon to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is $10. Active duty and retired military guests, and seniors 62 and over get a $3 discount Monday through Thursday and $1 on weekends. Children 12 and under are free.
SUFFOLK—Six months after deciding the state could not afford to pay for a replacement of Route 460, officials have issued a new request for proposals for the project.
Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board announced Monday that it had closed the partnered procurement process that it began with private companies in 2008.
On Wednesday, the CTB initiated a new procurement search with stipulations apparently designed to make the project more palatable for the companies that might be interested in building the road.
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 2, 2010
FRANKLIN
George Steinbach started working at the paper mill outside Franklin in 1937, even before it began making paper. He never expected it would stop in his lifetime.
But two weeks ago the machines shut down. International Paper will phase out employment at the mill and officially close it in June.
Steinbach retired in 1973, long before International Paper bought the mill in 1999 and in January, he turned 102, making him perhaps the oldest living former employee. He even remembers when the mill produced only brown paper.
WINDSOR—When the votes are counted Tuesday, Carita Richardson is expected to be the first female mayor in the town’s 108-year history.
Richardson, a one-term councilwoman, is running unopposed for mayor.
“Well, it looks like I will be the first woman to fill the post,” she said. “Unless, of course, there are a lot of write-in votes.”
By Philip Walzer
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 30, 2010
For more than 100 workers, today will be the last day on the job at the International Paper mill outside Franklin.
International Paper announced in October that it would close the mill this year, laying off 1,100 employees. The mill stopped producing paper two weeks ago and is phasing out workers through June.
It now has more than 800 workers, spokesman Desmond Stills said in an e-mail. “Today, April 30, is the last day for 106 employees,” he wrote.
The mill will continue shipping paper from the mill through mid-June and will then begin a final clean-up, he said.
