A paper company restructuring has put more than 300 people out of work in a single community. It's happened to Niagara , on the border with the Upper Peninsula in Marinette County. NewPage Corp ., the new owner of paper mills in six Wisconsin communities, is closing the pulp mill in Niagara, putting 319 employees out of work. "It's the kind of thing that's a difficult decision," said Tim Laatsch, a spokesman for Stora Enso, the plant's previous owner. Doug LaCounte is with the United Steelworkers Union local at the plant. "The company admits . . . it was probably the best work force it had." said LaCounte. "We're the ones that got shut down. It has a major impact on this whole area."
The Niagara mill produced some 230-thousand tons of paper annually, for use in catalogues and magazines. Some 125 workers in Kimberly also will lose their jobs as NewPage permanently shuts down one of three machines there. The Ohio-based firm last month acquired Wisconsin Rapids-based Stora Enso North America for two-point-six billion dollars. NewPage will still employ about 3,000 workers in Wisconsin.
AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:15 MP3)
