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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA Warning from Wisconsin
Last edited Thu Jul 30, 2020, 12:15 PM - Edit history (1)
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis.
The massive paper mill has churned relentlessly since it began feeding off the energy of the Wisconsin River more than a century ago, forming the cornerstone of a citys economy and producing glossy paper coveted by publishers during the heyday of U.S. magazines.
But the covid-19 pandemic has sped up a long-term trend the waning need for the paper used in magazines and printed advertising and Verso Corp.s Wisconsin Rapids Mill will finally fall silent at the end of the month. The shutdown, announced June 9, will knock some 900 people out of work and has sent tremors across the regions economy, reaching from the plants gates through town and deep into the Wisconsin forests that supply wood pulp to make paper.
More at link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/30/wisconsin-paper-mill-shutdown-coronavirus/
*And this is what happens when you vote against your own interests and the elders have been doing so for decades, not allowing new businesses to come to this area....Heartstrings
Jimbo S
(2,955 posts)Yeah, it's been a slow death for central Wisconsin going 40 years.
getagrip_already
(14,250 posts)Surely there is a market for the paper composites used in n95 masks (they are layers of filter paper and polyester film sandwiched together). There is still a painful shortage of masks.
Sure, it would require retooling and retraining. Doesn't the gov't have funds for that? It may not employ 900 people, but surely some could be kept on.
Seems like a senseless waste of people and plant when a need exists.
Just thinking out loud.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)this has been in the works for several months as per our Son In law who is a Sales Rep for the company. That makes four Mills closed in the last year plus in that area. BTW,these jobs as well as the Manufacturing has moved to Latin America as well as Korea and China.
Paper packaging as well as Advertising print material has been in a major contraction mode for more than ten years. SIL is one of the few remaining Sales People left and his territory is everything west of the Mississippi River as well as Part of Mexico. And he does all this via Cell phone and Laptop. Twenty five years thus far.