90 Jay mill workers temporarily laid off

JAY – Wausau Paper Corp. officials announced 90 workers are being temporarily laid off due to poor economic conditions in the paper industry.

The paper mill will shut down its Number 11 machine for three weeks beginning on Sunday.

The temporary shut down is in addition to the permanent shut down of its Number 10 paper machine the company announced on August 25. The permanent shut down is putting about 146 employees out of work.

A total of 235 employees worked at the mill before the two machine shut down.

The Number 10 paper machine, with a capacity of 40,000 tons annually, manufactures coated products, such as release liners used for label products, grease-resistant protective barrier paper and creped tape backing paper.

According to a statement released earlier, the permanent shut down is “in response to dramatically increased input costs and difficult market conditions.”
“While the release liner market remains a strategic focus for Wausau Paper, the high cost structure of the liner machine at our Otis mill has made it uncompetitive in today’s business environment,” said Thomas J. Howatt, president and CEO. “

While we regret the impact this decision will have on so many of our dedicated and loyal employees, it is a decision made in keeping with our commitment to address under-performing areas of our business and to deliver acceptable returns to our shareholders.”

Wausau Paper, with revenues of $1.2 billion in fiscal 2007, produces and markets fine printing and writing papers, technical specialty papers, and “away-from-home”

towel and tissue products. Its corporate headquarters are located in Mosinee, Wisconsin with 3,000 employees working at 11 different facilities in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Ohio and the Otis Mill in Jay, Maine. The company was formed in December 1997 with the merger of Mosinee Paper Corporation and Wausau Paper Mills Company.