Boise Inc. mill layoffs hurt St. Helens
By Valerie Hurst KATU News and KATU.com Web StaffST. HELENS, Ore. – A major employer in a small town outside of Portland has announced it will permanently lay off a majority of its workforce in the coming months. Boise Inc., which operates a facility housing four mills, will shut down two of the production lines, putting 300 people out of work. Only about 170 people will remain on the production lines. According to a press release from Boise Inc., another 25 additional positions will close in sales and marketing elsewhere in the company. "This is an extremely difficult but necessary decision to improve the financial performance of the company, while executing our strategic shift to packaging grades," said Alexander Toeldte, President and Chief Executive Officer of Boise Inc. in the press release that KATU News received Tuesday. "Our St. Helens team has achieved some incredible accomplishments since we first declared our need to significantly improve the financial performance of the mill two years ago," the statement read. "Unfortunately, despite the team's extraordinary innovation and commitment, the decision was primarily a function of declining product demand coupled with continuing high costs, which made it impossible to meet the company's long-term financial objectives. We will work closely with our customers and suppliers to ensure a smooth transition." The statement went on to say that eligible salaried employees will get severance packages while union employees will have to negotiate with the company. The company says it plans to make all the cuts in the next two months. Company officials said on Tuesday the layoffs were purely a reaction to declining business levels. On Monday, officials with the state of Oregon issued a report that showed unemployment in the state spiking by nearly a full percentage point, from 6.4 percent to 7.3 percent. That figure puts Oregon well above the national unemployment average, which is near 6.5 percent. |
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