Verso paper mill change stretches far beyond Kentucky

Company officials say it’s related to steep reductions in the production of coated paper and pulp.

The company, based in Memphis, said in a news release that it plans to shut down a pulp dryer and paper machine at the mill in order to reduce production capacity.

A paper mill in Wickliffe, Kentucky, will be indefinitely idled, while the Androscoggin Mill in Jay, Maine, will be partly closed in the fourth quarter.

After Verso announced it would close the Bucksport mill and lay off about 500 workers before the holidays past year, I interviewed Michael Hillard, an economist at the University of Southern Maine.

High operating costs in Maine, including energy costs and local property taxes, have also contributed to the decision.

The layoffs are expected to occur sometime in the fourth fiscal quarter.

At the Androscoggin Mill, Verso will close the No. 1 pulp dryer and the No. 2 paper machine, mitigating its production capacity by 150,000t of coated paper and 100,000t of dried market pulp.

Verso is one of the leading North American producers of coated paper products and operates 8 mills across the United States (including the Wickliffe and Maine mills) producing 3.6 million tons of paper products per year.

Each week, tons of the wood are cut down, loaded onto a truck and taken to the Verso paper mill.

The fallout from the closure of the Verso paper mill stretches far beyond Kentucky.

Gilbert said the announcement by Verso was evidence that state and federal policymakers needed to do more to protect manufacturing in the U.S.

On August 20, 2015, Verso issued a press release announcing the developments disclosed in this report. The company said that it intends to optimize the mill’s “pulp, power and recovery assets” in a bid to be more competitive.

“Decisions to reduce production capacity are never easy”, Paterson stated. “They are especially hard for the employees and their families who are directly affected by these actions”.

“Verso is committed to treating all of our impacted employees with fairness, dignity and respect and to communicating openly and honestly with each individual about how this decision will affect him or her. Our human resources team will begin meeting with our affected employees immediately”. And the nearly unrelenting bad news for paper mill workers in the state hurts more against the memory of what was, for sure.