Officials with the Village of Kimberly say they'll do whatever they can to help the NewPage Corporation sell the paper mill, which closed last September . Village President Chuck Kuen says he was surprised this week, when he heard that NewPage hired a banking firm to help sell the facility. Kuen says there are a lot of former NewPage employees who are still looking for work, and the sooner the mill can be up and running again the better. He says village officials will even act as tour guides for prospective buyers when they come to visit, if it will help.
For months, former employees of the New Page mill have been calling for the company to either run the mill or sell it. CEO Mark Suwyn says the company originally hoped to restart one or more of the machines, but the continued economic slump has led them to reconsider.
Union spokesman Andy Nirschl says the mill's former employees will do what they can to help sell the facility to someone who will run it. He says some former employees have found other jobs, but there are a lot of people who are still looking. New Page is trying to find a non-competing company to buy the Kimberly mill.
