Two companies that have publicly expressed interest in using portions of the
International Paper mill campus in Isle of Wight County say they are on track
with proposed manufacturing facilities that would create more than 200 jobs.
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International Paper
A spokeswoman for International Paper Co. said Thursday the closed Franklin paper mill is being considered for the production of wood pellets, lumber, fluff pulp, ethanol, biomass power generation and bio-diesel.
Donna Wadsworth, manager of communications for IP in Ticonderoga, N.Y., said various other options also remain under consideration.
“We anticipate that the studies and decisions regarding the future of the Franklin site assets could be completed in early 2011,” she wrote in an e-mail.
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International Paper might maintain a presence near Franklin, but the mill won’t make paper anymore.
In the company’s most detailed comments since its paper mill stopped production in April, a spokeswoman said Thursday that it is considering proposals from businesses such as producing wood pellets or ethanol.
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In fiscal year 2012, Isle of Wight County is expected to lose approximately $5.7 million annually in tax revenue from the mill’s closure, while Franklin will lose almost $1.2 million annually it received from a revenue-based non-annexation agreement brokered with the county years ago. The state is projected to take a $20.6 million hit in tax revenue.
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We were cheered by last week’s news that 25 percent of the workers displaced by the closure of International Paper Co.’s Franklin mill already have landed on their feet — even before the final wave of workers leaves the IP campus on June 30.
Randy Betz, vice president of workforce development for Paul D. Camp Community College, has been tracking the employment of mill workers since IP’s announcement last fall that the mill would close this spring. As of Friday, 275 mill employees had either started other jobs or accepted job offers.
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Forestry is big business in Virginia and produces more than $23 billion of goods and services annually in the Commonwealth. There are nearly 700 wood products manufacturing facilities in Virginia. Additionally, byproducts from these manufacturing operations are burned to produce electricity that saves more than 2 million barrels of oil annually.
The IP (International Paper) Economic Recovery Task Force Forestry Committee has worked to provide information to interested companies that may want to locate on the mill site or other potential sites in our area. Our region has come to the attention of domestic and international companies hoping to capitalize on our location, our natural resource and our valuable and experienced workforce.
Generally speaking, when people in the forest industry talk about their wood basket, they are referring to an area where wood is available that may be used by a particular manufacturer such as a paper mill, sawmill, pellet mill, particleboard mill, chip mill or any other wood-using facility.
If we look at our wood basket within a 100-mile haul distance from Franklin, there are 58 counties and cities in Virginia and North Carolina that provide timber to the overall market.
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Twenty-five percent of 1,100 are re-employed, survey shows
By Charlie Passut | Tidewater News
Published Saturday, May 22, 2010
FRANKLIN—An unofficial survey of displaced employees at International Paper Co.’s Franklin mill suggests that at least 25 percent have either started a new job or accepted a job offer.
Randy Betz, vice president for workforce development at Paul D. Camp Community College, has been compiling job information about mill workers since October, when IP announced that it would close the mill by spring. The mill ceased production last month.
“The tremendous news is that as of this morning, 275 mill employees have either started their new jobs or have accepted job offers,” Betz said Friday. “That’s an encouraging number and some really good news.”
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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