Georgia Pacific or G-P (Atlanta, Ga., USA) announced on Jan. 14, 2019 that in response to a declining market it will be permanently shutting down communication PMs and related operations such as the woodyard, pulping, and converting in Port Hudson, La., USA by mid-March of this year. As a result of the decision, up to 690 jobs will be impacted by the closure. 

Consistent with other recent changes at its mill sites, G-P will continue to invest in its Port Hudson facility to produce tissue and paper towels. About 300 employees will be kept onboard to operate the facility in this capacity.

"People just aren't using as much office paper anymore," said Karen Cole, a spokesperson for G-P quoted by WABE (Atlanta, Ga., USA) in a report this week on the closings. "And so we also looked at the investment that's required to sustain, you know, operations long-term and coupled with that declining market, we just felt it's not viable."

A representative for G-P told WAFB earlier this week that salaried employees were offered the company's standard severance packages, however, most of the affected were union employees. The company is reportedly working with the unions to determine what kind of packages will be offered. In the days ahead the company told WAFB it will be working on possible opportunities to transfer affected employees to other locations and that they are working with local and state companies to organize job fairs. 

In the wake of the layoffs, G-P will also not receive property tax breaks recently approved by the parish. A spokesperson for the company confirmed that their Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) contract not move forward. ITEP gives companies a break in exchange for providing jobs. Since G-P will no longer be able to meet the minimum job requirement, they are withdrawing from the ITEP contract.  

Governor John Bel Edwards (Democrat) released the following statement this past Thursday:

"We stand in solidarity with the employees of G-P during this difficult time. Our Louisiana Workforce Commission and Louisiana Economic Development teams will assist G-P employees in every way possible to use all resources to identify new jobs for laid off workers and to assist them and their families. This is a difficult situation we will work through together. Despite this, Louisiana's economy is strong and growing, and there are many employment opportunities we can capture to re-employ the talented and dedicated manufacturing workers at G-P."