Berlin paper mill to close, again.

[KBCraig]

This time they're saying it's permanent.

This should slow the increase in housing prices there, and remove one of the objections people have to living there (the smell).


http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=250+to+lose+jobs+in+Berlin&articleId=5fdfb80f-91a3-4ca5-8be9-c501ee1cfcf4

250 to lose jobs in Berlin

By LORNA COLQUHOUN
Union Leader Correspondent

Berlin ? The pulp mill that has dominated the geographical and economic landscape of New Hampshire?s northernmost city for more than a century will permanently shut down on May 6, leaving 250 workers without jobs.

It is the second hit to the North Country?s fragile economy, coming just days after the Groveton Paper Board officially and permanently shut down its paper-making operations, leaving 108 mill workers without jobs.

?It was just announced ? we just heard it,? said Gerry Coulombe, president of the local paper mill workers union just before 6 p.m. yesterday. ?We got the 60-day notice that the pulp mill will shut down. It?s another devastating blow.?

Canadian-based Fraser Papers bought the mill on May 3, 2002, for $31 million, nearly a year after the Burgess pulp mill and the Cascade paper mill in neighboring Gorham abruptly shut down when the former owners, American Tissue, stopped paying taxes and utilities and meeting payroll. American Tissue filed for bankruptcy in September 2001.

?The difference this time is that (Fraser) is doing it properly,? said Mayor Robert Danderson. ?This isn?t something we didn?t expect at some point, but I think everyone was hoping we would have a little more time.?

Gorham Town Manager William Jackson added, ?The difference this time is that it?s a permanent closure.?

The rising costs of wood, energy and chemicals in the past three years have ?led to a significant deterioration in the financial results at our pulp mill, despite the efforts of our employees and the state of New Hampshire to improve the sustainability of the operations,? Fraser Papers President and CEO Dominc Gammiero said.

The paper mill in neighboring Gorham, which produces specialty-grade papers and employs about 450 people, will remain open, he said.

But Gammiero noted: ?We will also be evaluating the potential market-related shutdown of one of the five paper machines at the Gorham mill.?

The Berlin pulp mill had an annual capacity of 230,000 tons of pulp; about 55 percent of that was more than the Gorham mill required and was sold to other paper mills, including Fraser?s mill in Madawaska, Maine. Fraser officials said closing the Berlin mill will allow the company to reposition its market pulp business at its pulp mill in Thurso, Quebec.

?We considered the short- and long-term market outlook for hardwood fiber costs, other rising input costs and capital requirements, and determined that it was appropriate to reduce our exposure to market pulp,? Gammiero said.

State officials, as they did in Groveton two months ago and five years ago in Berlin and Gorham, are gearing up to help the workers.

?I know how extremely difficult this closure will be for the employees of the plant, the city of Berlin, and the entire North Country,? Gov. John Lynch said last night. ?I pledge that the state will do everything possible to assist the employees of the pulp mill, and their families.?

Lynch held a conference call yesterday afternoon with the Workforce Opportunity Council and the Departments of Resources and Economic Development, Labor, and Employment Security to begin coordinating the state?s assistance. He directed the Workforce Opportunity Council to lead the rapid response effort, in coordination with other agencies.

Danderson and Jackson said Lynch told them he will be in Berlin on Friday to meet with local officials.

The pulp and paper industry is the foundation on which Berlin and the region were built, with thousands of people employed at its height. But it has been in decline for decades.

Berlin has been selected as the site for construction of a federal prison, although the Bureau of Prisons has not yet announced where it wants to build it.

?The first thing I am going to do (today) is to call the Congressional delegation and ask them to expedite the federal prison,? Danderson said. ?I?m sure some of those 250 workers can get in on the construction.?

Development of a 7,200-acre ATV park is in the works, which Danderson said will be a boon to the area. Although the mill closure is a blow, he is optimistic that ?a year from now, Berlin will have a totally different look.?

Helping the affected workers is Jackson?s priority, as well as attracting business and industry diverse enough to make the local economy less dependent on one large employer.

?If the (Gorham) mill shuts down, there needs to be things here to readily absorb the workers,? he said. ?That?s the advantage the southern tier has. If a company shuts down, the workers can go to the next town and be absorbed.

Up here, there is no next town that is going to absorb our workers.?

[svillee]

This is definitely big news up here.  A lot of locals are unhappy about it, of course.  But some are viewing it in a positive light, saying it will force the community to be less dependent on one large employer.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the real estate market.  If many ex-workers end up having to sell their homes, that would push prices down.  On the other hand, with the smell gone, more folks may want to move into the area.

[tracysaboe]

Perhaps I'll find cheep residence there when I'm ready to move 

Tracy

[Russell Kanning]

Groveton already had really cheap housing ..... can you imagine how low it will go?

[KBCraig]

This could help us get there faster... possibly within a year!

And that wouldn't suck at all. 

Kevin

[TackleTheWorld]

Yes, Groveton and Berlin both have very inexpensive real estate
but high taxes.

Total Tax (from FSP website)


Concord              - 19.77
Keene              - 26.19
Berlin               - 29.13
Groveton (NorthUmberland)       - 31.86

[KBCraig]

Don't forget that the rate applies to the valuation, so you can be money ahead in Groveton (low prices) versus Concord (low rate, high prices).

Then you have to figure in income levels for relative cost of living... it can all be a wash in the end.

Kevin