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By Jaedda Armstrong
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner's plans to help the community devastated by International Paper Co. 's decision to close its paper mill outside Franklin include trying to convince company officials they're doing the wrong thing.
About 50 city officials, business leaders and others affected by Thursday's announcement of the mill's closing gathered at Franklin City Hall on Sunday to discuss the daunting question the community faces: What now?
Warner, who said he was shocked when he heard the news, called for the meeting.
It's still not clear exactly why the mill is closing, Carroll Story, the president of the United Steelworkers local that represents the workers, told Warner.
"The mill is very profitable," said Story, 49, who has worked at the mill for 31 years. "That's what's so hard to understand."
The 1,100 workers expected to be out of work next year live not only in Suffolk and nearby counties, Story said, but also in North Carolina. Now the company is messing with two states, he said.
Warner assured them he would do what it takes to get workers the assistance they need while they seek new employment. First, Warner wants to make sure they look at all options.
"I don't want to create any false hope, but we should have some effort to say, 'Is there any way we could encourage the company to reconsider this decision?' " Warner said.
Warner instructed officials to reach out to members on the company's board and any of the mill's Virginia- or North Carolina-based customers who would be affected. He hopes discussions with board members and customers who rely on the mill's products can help the case for saving the mill.
Warner also agreed to send a letter from Virginia and North Carolina senators to the company's chief executive officer explaining the economic impact of the company's decision and urging it to reconsider. If the company refuses, maybe it can extend the closing date, he said.
He said he expects these tasks to be completed by the end of the week.
If all fails, Warner said he will find out what federal assistance the workers can qualify for while they look for new employment, how to replace the jobs lost, how to attract other employers to the area and the status of the infrastructure once the plant closes.
Jim Councill, the city mayor, said company officials stated in a news release that the company doesn't plan to sell the mill to another paper company and there aren't any current plans for what to do with the facility. The company also admitted that the economic impact to the area was not considered before making the decision, Councill said.
A second meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Workforce Development Center at Paul D. Camp Community College in Franklin. The meeting, which will address any developments, is open to the public.
Jaedda Armstrong, (757) 222-5846, jaedda.armstrong@pilotonline.com
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Pitting IP, Govt, Business, Citzens Against Each Other
IP, just like Union Camp was (same facility), is located in Isle of Wight County, not within the city limits of Franklin.
The county tax assessment rate is lower outside the city limits
Franklin has a revenue sharing agreement with Isle of Wight County.
If you look at the City of Franklin budget for 2008-
Franklin received $1,107,450 million dollars in shared revenue from Isle of Wight. (2008)
Franklin received $66,949 thousand dollars in shared revenue from Southampton County.(2008)
The Golden Mile is called the 'golden mile' for a reason.
'The smell of money' in referring to the paper plant is not just a metaphor.
Franklin gets 37% of its' total budget from STATE and FEDERAL AID.
That number is $11,908,698 MILLION DOLLARS
It is dumb to pit local, state, fed, business, counties and cities against each other!
IP Closing in Franklin IS NOT BECAUSE OF TAXES
NO TAXES AS LONG AS THE MILL IS OPEN
Submitted by RicknChes on Sun, 10/25/2009 at 7:56 pm.
How about offering the mill this incentive? Tell the Mill owners that they won't have to pay any taxes on anything as long as they stay open
******
Alternative Fuel Tax Credit, Reduced Spending, Boost International Paper’s 1st-qtr Profit
April 30,2009
Big Tax Credit Lifts Profit at International Paper
Looking ahead, IP is in line to receive slightly more than $1 billion this year from its participation in the alternative fuel cash tax credit program.
ttp://blog.taragana.com/n/alternative-fuel-tax-credit-reduced-spending-boost-international-papers-1st-qtr-profit-46476/
No one in the most beautiful Commonwealth in the United States benefits when its' citizens are at each other's throats pitting rural areas against metro areas and big cities against small cities and acting like our government whether it is local, regional, state, or federal is some kind of alien life form rather than made up of the very people we sit next to in church, talk to as neighbors, and attend school board meetings, and work, play, and love and worry about all of our lives.
BTW, IP already paid
Union company
Put a company in it's place without a union telling the management how to run it and it might survive. If I owned a company and the union came in, I would close the plant the same day. I pay my employees a fair salary with benefits and I refuse to stand by and allow someone else who did not work their tail off to open the doors telling me what I have to do. If someone is not satisfied with the salary I pay and the way I run the company, they are free to leave.
hmmm
hopey changey
working well so far
I agree with other posters
Why did Mark Warner meet with Franklin folks instead of the governor? I noticed the latest article tonight stating the closing is definite, even after Warner's meeting yesterday. In my opinion, Gov Kaine has failed the leadership test in this matter. Maybe Kaine's public relations staff is responsible, but, it makes him look bad for whatever reason. I am disappointed in his administration because we expected much more than he has delivered.
OLF?
If I were Southampton or IOW County I would start a new discussion with the Navy concerning the OLF.
Ignorance
The ignorance of many of the posters here is staggering. This isn't really a political issue, at least not in the sense that posters on both sides of the spectrum would have us believe. Senator Warner is a woefully misguided if he thinks he can convince IP into not closing this plant. He must know that his effort is futile, leading me to believe that his efforts are nothing but political cover. It is akin to trying to save a harness factory in the 1920s. Paper is becoming obsolete, just as leather tack was 80 years ago. Those who complain about the IP CEO's compensation are similarly misguided. The man has managed to maintain the company's profitability in the face of both product obsolescence and a faltering economy. This is not Barack Obama's (or for that matter George W. Bush's) fault, although I suspect that the bailout and stimulus packages raised a lot of false hope. This is of course, little solace for those who will lose their jobs, just as the Ford plant employees did some years ago. But, like the Ford employees, they will survive.
how can they sleep?
I am just wondering how can they sleep at night knowing alot of people are going to lose their jobs? Do they think about the family's that depends on the income of those who work at the mill? How about the children of those that work at the mill? What happends if the family get behind on making house payments and they lose there home all because someone plans on closeing the mill down. Do you think it's fair to those who are working hard to make a living get knocked down because they lost there job that seen unfair.Dose the gov. really care about the people or just see how much money they can save and spend it on something that we can deal without. Alot of people are lost there jobs and homes and I think it's not right. The rich people don't have to worry about money and were the next meal come from. Its thw middle class and the poor who worry about how they can make ends meat just to feed their family. When will the state of usa get better??? I feel that we gotta worst and there is no one out there to help the poor and middle class people.....
IP Closing
Here is an idea. Maybe Mark Warner, Barrack, and Timmy can form a picket line in downtown Franklin and threaten to strike if IP fails to reopen. Demand to be compensated accordingly with tax free benefits and I bet that will put the fear of God in IP. OLAH!!!!!
IP closing
As a spouse of a Franklin IP employee, it is devastating news. IP in Franklin has always made money, maybe lately not the huge profit margin the big dogs were accustomed to, but Franklin IP paid for the Eastover state-of-the-art mill. I feel for all the employees, some of whom both husband and wife worked there, and I also feel for every other American who has lost a job. We are pretty rural in our area and there are no jobs, so finding work for these displaced employees will be tough, if not next to impossible. IP will not sell the mill, so no hope of another company buying it and providing jobs. Mr. Jim Faraci, CEO of IP, is not worried about those employees. As with most other big companies, the top item on their agenda is corporate greed and lining their own pockets. The following is from Money Central magazine in an article entitled The 5 Most Overpaid CEOs..
Overpaid CEO #4: John Faraci of International Paper (IP). The stock fell 63% last year, nearly twice the decline in the S&P 500, and has done much worse than both the market and its peers over the past five years. But chief John Faraci got $38.2 million in pay last year -- including $21 million in pension payment