Murphy – State and local agencies are scrambling in reaction to the looming closure of a packaging paper mill in Canton with widespread impacts, including the loss of hundreds of jobs in Cherokee County.
Pactiv Evergreen announced plans on March 6 to shut down the paper mill in Canton, Haywood County. The Canton mill has been in operation for more than a century and has been the center of that town and region.
The first layoffs will occur on June 9. Pactiv Evergreen expects to close its Canton mill during the second quarter as part of a restructuring of its beverage merchandizing operations.
About 1,100 employees are expected to lose their jobs at the Canton mill, but the impacts are more wide-spread, including an estimated 300 jobs affected in Cherokee County at a pulp mill in Marble, local trucking companies along with other support industries. Tri-County Community College is already working to assist local workers affected by the closure to transition to new jobs.
In late April, Southwestern Commission staff held a meeting with representatives from Haywood County, the Town of Canton and a group of local, state and federal resources to address the challenges presented by the impending closure. The Canton meeting aimed to identify the needs of Haywood County and connect them with potential funding and resources to help them plan for the future.
Representatives from agencies and organizations including the Economic Development Administration, N.C. Commerce, Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Golden LEAF Foundation, Dogwood Health Trust, Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, N.C. Office of Strategic Partnerships and the Office of the Governor attended.
The Southwestern Commission’s Workforce Development Department has hosted 14 rapid response sessions that helped connect dislocated workers with resources and information.
Plans are underway for the Milltown Strong Career & Resource Fair from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, June 16, at the Haywood County Fairgrounds, according to a Southwestern Commission release. Staff applied for a National Dislocated Worker Grant to provide assistance to the Evergreen workers.
“If awarded, we plan to build the capacity of the Workforce Development Board and NCWorks Centers and provide on-the-job training funds and occupations training funds,” the Southwestern Commission said in a news release. “We are committed to utilizing these resources to provide as much support as possible to those impacted by the Evergreen closure.”
In a letter, Gov. Roy Cooper asked Pactiv Evergreen USA CEO Mike King to “explore all options” to keep the mill operating, whether through a sale, repurposing of the plant or through any other means. Cooper also put the company on notice that the state would seek to recover $12 million in state-funded incentives received to keep the mill operating if it closed.