Georgia Pacific Shuttered A Plywood Plant In Hawthorne, Laid Off 400 Workers; Plant Remains Closed

Georgia-Pacific Closed A Sawmill In Hawthorne, Florida. According to The Gainesville Sun, “An Austrian lumber company plans to build a $130 million sawmill near Live Oak employing 350 people, a project touted as a shot in the arm to the local economy while also raising concerns about its impact on the timber supply and competing sawmills as well as its cost to taxpayers. […] Bryan Olmert, president of Loncala in High Springs, said the mill will be good for forest landowners and encourage them to start planting trees again after other sawmills closed in the region in recent years, including the Georgia-Pacific plywood mill in Hawthorne.” [Gainesville Sun, 5/24/13]

2011: Georgia-Pacific Closed Its Plywood Plant In Hawthorne, Florida, And Laid Off 400 Workers In A Town Of 1,400 Residents. According to the Tampa Bay Times, “For nearly three decades, this rural community in north central Florida was home to a bustling mill that was the principal employer for its 1,400 residents. Then, in November 2011, the recession-induced collapse of the housing market forced Georgia-Pacific to close its plywood plant. All 400 employees were sent scrambling to find work weeks before the holidays. And the mill that once produced the sawdust-covered staples of the state’s housing market stood idle, cutting off the lifeblood of the local economy. ‘The mill was a boost to the entire town the schools, churches, local businesses,’ said Pastor Joe Williams. ‘All of a sudden, all that disappeared.’ Now, after two years the mill stands shuttered. Many of its employees have found other jobs but at lower wages, and local community leaders, who had hoped to get help from the state, say they are on their own. ‘We’ve tried to sell ourselves to [the state Department of Economic Opportunity],’ said Hawthorne Mayor Matthew Surrency, but the effort has yielded little return. The story of Hawthorne is not one Gov. Rick Scott talks about on his public relations roadshow as the state’s ‘jobs’ governor. It is a tale of the tens of thousands of private sector jobs lost in Florida since Scott took office in January 2011.” [Tampa Bay Times, 12/8/13]

• The Plant Had Been Open Since 1982. According to the Florida Times-Union, “Georgia-Pacific will stop production at its plywood plant in Hawthorne later this fall, putting 400 people out of work. Spokeswoman Trish Bowles attributed the action to the slowdown in home building. It will continue to operate through Nov. 7. Bowles described it as an ‘indefinite curtailment’ rather than a closure, leaving room for the plant to reopen. Severance packages are still unclear, she said. The plant, about midway between Gainesville and Palatka, has been open since 1982, converting pine logs to plywood that it sold under the names Plytanium and Sturd-I-Floor. Georgia-Pacific has four other plants in Florida: a chip mill and a paper mill in Palatka, a lumber mill in Cross City and an oriented strand board mill in Palatka.” [Florida Times-Union, 9/10/11]

400 Floridians Lost Their Jobs

Georgia-Pacific’s Hawthorne Plywood Plant Closure Put 400 Floridians Out Of Work. According to the Florida Times-Union, “Georgia-Pacific will stop production at its plywood plant in Hawthorne later this fall, putting 400 people out of work. Spokeswoman Trish Bowles attributed the action to the slowdown in home building. It will continue to operate through Nov. 7. Bowles described it as an ‘indefinite curtailment’ rather than a closure, leaving room for the plant to reopen. Severance packages are still unclear, she said. The plant, about midway between Gainesville and Palatka, has been open since 1982, converting pine logs to plywood that it sold under the names Plytanium and Sturd-I-Floor. Georgia-Pacific has four other plants in Florida: a chip mill and a paper mill in Palatka, a lumber mill in Cross City and an oriented strand board mill in Palatka.” [Florida Times-Union, 9/10/11]

Georgia-Pacific Paid Severance To Nearly 400 Hawthorne Mill Employees. According to the Gainesville Sun, “The former employees had been in limbo after GP and the United Steelworkers union agreed to consider the shutdown an indefinite curtailment and not a permanent closure, meaning they would be eligible to return if the housing market improved and the plant reopened. The decision to pay severance was ‘to keep the employees from having to wait around,’ GP spokeswoman Trish Bowles said. Salaried employees were considered separated from the company Wednesday, Bowles said. She did not know the terms of their severance. The United Steelworkers negotiated a severance for the 358 collective-bargaining employees on Friday, staff representative Frank Bragg said. Former employees will be paid 20 hours’ worth of wages for each year they worked up to 15 years, and 40 hours’ wages for each year of service over 15. The payments likely will come around Christmas, he said. Wages paid during the 60-day required notification period before the official closure on Nov. 7 will be deducted from the severance pay, Bragg said. That means some employees who worked right up until Nov. 7 probably will receive no severance pay. ‘It’s not extremely lucrative, but it’s in line with what GP typically does in these situations,’ he said.” [Gainesville Sun, 12/12/11]

Damaging Impact On The Local Community

Businesses And About 1,600 Residents In Surrounding Counties Expected To Be Hit By The Hawthorne Mill Plant Closure. According to the Bradenton Herald, “Tammy Scott said the holidays will be hard if her husband, Mike, can’t find work. He lost his job as a forklift operator three weeks ago when Georgia-Pacific stopped operations at its Hawthorne plywood mill, citing slow home construction. The Hawthorne woman said they have three older children — two still at home — and can’t pay all the bills from her job in an insurance office. ‘If something doesn’t come along quick, there’s not going to be much of a Thanksgiving and certainly not a Christmas,’ she said. About 400 employees and their families were left to look for work when the mill went dark. Some have already found new jobs. While the mill is in a rural area in Putnam County over the Alachua County line, nearby Hawthorne in Alachua County, with 1,600 residents, may feel it the most, with businesses already reporting slower sales. Businesses that supported the mill such as loggers also expect to take a hit.” [Bradenton Herald, 11/13/11]

Georgia-Pacific Said The Mill Could Possibly Reopen After Home Construction Rebounded. According to the Bradenton Herald, “GP announced in September that it would close the mill Nov. 7, but almost all the 400 employees were sent home in mid-October when production stopped, said GP spokeswoman Trish Bowles. The company initially said the mill would close indefinitely, but left the door open to possibly reopening when home construction rebounds. After meetings with the employee union, the company agreed last month that the shutdown was a curtailment and not a closure and to see if it is feasible to reopen early next year, said Frank Bragg, staff representative for United Steelworkers International. That means the job losses are technically layoffs, ‘thus no severance at this point,’ he said.” [Bradenton Herald, 11/13/11]

• 2014: Hawthorne Plant Listed as “Idled” On Georgia-Pacific Website. [GP, Accessed 8/14/14]

The Mill’s Closure Was “Devastating” To The Area’s Timber Market. According to the Bradenton Herald, “Bryan Olmert said the mill’s continued closure would be devastating to the area timber market. Olmert is president of Loncala in High Springs, which buys timber and has 45,000 acres of its own timberland. He said his company took 10 to 20 tons of pine a year to the GP mill, one of the only Florida buyers of trees bigger than 20 inches in diameter and therefore more valuable. ‘That mill bought most of the big wood in North Florida,’ Olmert said. He said his operation is diverse enough that he doesn’t expect Loncala to lose any of its 25 employees or 10 to 12 contract employees, but that there probably will be fewer logging crews around.” [Bradenton Herald, 11/13/11]

The Hawthorne Mill Bought Large Timber From North Florida Businesses. According to the Bradenton Herald, “Bryan Olmert said the mill’s continued closure would be devastating to the area timber market. Olmert is president of Loncala in High Springs, which buys timber and has 45,000 acres of its own timberland. He said his company took 10 to 20 tons of pine a year to the GP mill, one of the only Florida buyers of trees bigger than 20 inches in diameter and therefore more valuable. ‘That mill bought most of the big wood in North Florida,’ Olmert said. He said his operation is diverse enough that he doesn’t expect Loncala to lose any of its 25 employees or 10 to 12 contract employees, but that there probably will be fewer logging crews around.” [Bradenton Herald, 11/13/11]

Hawthorne Businesses Saw An Immediate Decrease In The Local Economy. According to the Bradenton Herald, “Within Hawthorne, business already slowed by the economy has gotten slower at Dianne’s Old Time Barbeque on U.S. 301, said assistant manager Heather Horner. ‘As far as the locals, there’s definitely a change in who’s coming in every day,’ she said. ‘They used to call in breakfast in the early morning. You just don’t get that.’” [Bradenton Herald, 11/13/11]

Hawthorne’s Ace Hardware Store Lost Half Its Business After The Georgia-Pacific Plant Closed And Most Of Its Laid Off Employees Could Not Find Similar Wages And Benefits. According to The Miami Herald, “In Hawthorne, it’s been two years since the paper mill closed. Rumors abound that the plant will reopen, but Georgia-Pacific says it has no immediate plans to start up operations. The Ace Hardware in downtown Hawthorne saw its business drop by half, said owner Robert Bristow. Dianne’s Old Time Barbeque laid off half its waitresses and the cashier as the lunchtime crowd virtually disappeared. Local timber companies lost their only customer. And for the laid off employees who found new jobs, most could not replace the wages and benefits offered by Georgia Pacific ‘Me and my family, we didn’t cry — we did what we had to do,’ said Troy Browning, 32, who sorted plywood at the mill since age 19. He found a job washing buses in Gainesville — and his hourly wage dipped from $14.63 to $8.” [Miami Herald, 12/8/13]

Hawthorne Real Estate Was Also Expected To Be Hit Due To Former Employees Relocating In Order To Find New Jobs. According to the Bradenton Herald, “Hawthorne Realtor Heather Surrency of Watson Realty Corp. said she expects that some former employees will relocate for new jobs, leaving behind some rentals and possibly foreclosed homes if they’re not able to sell. Surrency started a Facebook group ‘Keep G.P. in Hawthorne’ that was up to 1,272 members by Thursday.” [Bradenton Herald, 11/13/11]

Local Testimonies

Long-Term Workers Applied To Other Georgia-Pacific Plants, Treated Like Outsiders

Robert Jenkins Worked At The Hawthorne Plant For 16 Years Before Being Laid Off: “They Pulled The Rug Out From Under Us.” According to the Florida Times-Union, “Robert Jenkins worked at the Hawthorne site for 16 years. He separated good pieces of wood from bad. He’s since applied for an opening at Georgia-Pacific’s paper mill in Palatka, but he feels betrayed. The father of a teenage son said he had to apply for the positions like someone who hasn’t worked for the company. ‘They pulled the rug out from under us,’ said Jenkins, 37. ‘They really treated us as outsiders.’ Most workers were laid off from the Hawthorne plant by late October, Bowles said. A handful will stay to maintain equipment. Paychecks continued through early to mid-November. The company offered career fairs. ‘It was sad,’ said Bowles, based in Palatka” [Florida Times-Union, 11/24/11]

Jenkins Applied To Work At GP’s Paper Mill In Palatka, But Felt “Betrayed” When He Was Treated Like He Was New To The Company, “They Really Treated Us As Outsiders.” According to the Florida Times-Union, “Robert Jenkins worked at the Hawthorne site for 16 years. He separated good pieces of wood from bad. He’s since applied for an opening at Georgia-Pacific’s paper mill in Palatka, but he feels betrayed. The father of a teenage son said he had to apply for the positions like someone who hasn’t worked for the company. ‘They pulled the rug out from under us,’ said Jenkins, 37. ‘They really treated us as outsiders.’ Most workers were laid off from the Hawthorne plant by late October, Bowles said. A handful will stay to maintain equipment. Paychecks continued through early to mid-November. The company offered career fairs. ‘It was sad,’ said Bowles, based in Palatka” [Florida Times-Union, 11/24/11]

Former Hawthorne Employees Found It Difficult To Find Jobs Nearly One Year Later. According to Gainesville Sun, “Other nowhere-everywhere communities have not been as fortunate. Nearly a year ago, the 1,600 residents of Hawthorne were dealt a difficult economic blow when the largest private employer, Georgia-Pacific, shut down its plywood plant. About 400 jobs in and around Hawthorne were lost. Many still are struggling to find equivalent employment, state officials say.” [Gainesville Sun, 9/16/12]

Georgia-Pacific Plant In Palatka Saw Layoffs, Suspensions, and Severances After Koch Acquired Company

Koch Considered Offering Severance Packages to 1,000 of 1,200 Employees at Palatka Plant Within 6 Months of Acquiring Georgia-Pacific

2005: Georgia-Pacific’s Palatka Plant Had 1,250 Employees; Workers Were “Hopeful That Koch Won’t Make Major Changes In The Operations.” According to the Florida Times-Union, “Durango-Georgia was Camden County’s largest private employer, and it put more than 900 people out of work when it closed in 2002. Paper mills have long had a major impact on many Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia communities. So there was some concern last month when Palatka’s largest private employer, Georgia-Pacific Corp., announced that it agreed to a buyout by privately-owned Koch Industries. Kansas-based Koch announced last week that it has received tenders last week for 88 percent of Georgia-Pacific’s stock, paving the way for completion of the $21 billion deal. Workers at the 1,250-employee Georgia-Pacific plant in Palatka are hopeful that Koch won’t make major changes in the operations, but they have not heard from Koch officials since the deal was announced in November. ‘We don’t know anything more at this point,’ a spokesman for the Palatka mill said last week. Georgia-Pacific employs nearly 500 more people at other facilities in the region.” [Florida Times-Union, 12/26/05]

Georgia-Pacific Considered Offering Severance Packages To About 1,000 Hourly Workers At Its Palatka Paper Mill, Which Employed About 1,200 People. According to the Florida Times-Union, “Georgia-Pacific is considering offering severance packages to about 1,000 hourly workers at its Palatka paper mill as it tries to trim its head count without resorting to layoffs. The mill has offered its 200 salaried employees buyout packages. […]The mill, located on 500 acres in Palatka, employs about 1,200. Koch Industries acquired the plant in December when it bought Georgia-Pacific.” [Florida Times-Union via LexisNexis, 6/7/06]

• GP Company Spokesman: “The Employee Cutbacks Are Part Of A ‘Rapid Transformation Process’ The Mill Is Undergoing To Boost Its Competitiveness.” According to Florida Times-Union via LexisNexis, “The employee cutbacks are part of a ‘rapid transformation process’ the mill is undergoing to boost its competitiveness, company spokesman Jeremy Alexander said.” [Florida Times-Union via LexisNexis, 6/7/06]

2006: GP Suspended 1008 Workers “With No Advance Notice.”

Georgia Pacific’s Palatka Sawmill Suspended 108 Workers For “At Least Six Months” With “No Advance Notice About The Closure.” According to the Florida Times-Union, “Frank Hall pulled into the lot of the Palatka-area sawmill where he’s worked for the better part of 19 years Thursday, not out of habit but need. He found out Wednesday that his job, and those of 107 other workers, will be suspended for at least six months as the sawmill owned by Georgia-Pacific suspended operation, effective immediately. […]The workers were given no advance notice about the closure, but will get 60 days pay and benefits, said Georgia-Pacific public affairs manager Jeremy Alexander. No other cutbacks are expected, he said.” [Florida Times-Union via LexisNexis, 11/17/06]

• Georgia-Pacific Public Affairs Manager: The Pause In Production Had To Do With “Overall Market Conditions.” According to the Florida Times-Union, “The pause in production has to do with overall market conditions, [Georgia-Pacific public affairs manager Jeremy] Alexander said. The mill produces one-by-fours and two-by-fours out of southern pine.” [Florida Times-Union via LexisNexis, 11/17/06]

2008: GP Laid Off 50 More Employees, Palatka Was Ranked Number 2 On Forbes Magazine’s List Of The Nation’s Most Vulnerable Towns And Cities

Georgia Pacific Laid Off 50 Employees At Its Palatka, Florida Pulp And Paper Mill. According to the Jacksonville Business Journal, “Georgia-Pacific Corp. is laying off 50 employees at its Palatka pulp and paper mill. The layoffs come after the Atlanta-based company halted production indefinitely on one of two machines devoted to producing Kraft paper products like paper bags and cardboard boxes. The mill, which employs about 1,040 people, manufactures Kraft products and consumer paper products. The other machine that produces Kraft products will continue to operate. A separate chip mill plant in Palatka produces pine and hardwood chips for tissue and paper making.” [Jacksonville Business Journal via LexisNexis, 12/16/08]

Palatka, Florida Was Ranked Number 2 On Forbes Magazine’s List Of The Nation’s Most Vulnerable Towns And Cities. According to the Florida Times-Union, “What remains of Palatka’s economy – a Georgia-Pacific paper mill, a barge port, a Seminole Electric power plant and low-paying retail and service industry jobs – is on shaky footing, according to a national business magazine. Palatka ranked No. 2 earlier this month on Forbes magazine’s list of the nation’s ‘most vulnerable’ towns and cities. In the magazine’s analysis of 141 towns’ economic and education data, the only worse performer was Lancaster, S.C., a struggling manufacturing town about 60 miles north of Columbia, the state’s capital.” [Florida Times-Union via LexisNexis, 11/2/08]

Georgia-Pacific Closed Cross City Southern Pine Sawmill In Late 2007, Eliminating About 100 Jobs; Plant Remains Closed

GP Facilities In Florida Included An Idled Southern Pine Sawmill Plant In Cross City, Florida. According to a state fact sheet from Georgia-Pacific, GP Facilities in Florida include Cross City Southern Pine Sawmill (Idled) producing Dimensional Lumber. [Georgia-Pacific State Fact Sheet, 4/13]

• Gainesville Sun: “GP Closed A Sawmill In Cross City In Late 2007, Eliminating About 100 Jobs, Also Citing Weak Housing Demand. It Remains Closed.” According to the Gainesville Sun, “GP closed a sawmill in Cross City in late 2007, eliminating about 100 jobs, also citing weak housing demand. It remains closed.” [Gainesville Sun, 9/9/11]