![]() ![]() But it is the latest in a narrative that has defined states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania as the “Rust Belt” – areas where many middle-class workers have lost quality manufacturing jobs in the past several decades, as plants and mills that made everything from cars to refrigerators have closed. The story of the Wisconsin Rapids paper mill is not a new or unique illustration of the impact of the loss of manufacturing jobs on local economies. They don’t pay for themselves if they aren’t working,” she said. ![]() It’s just sitting there,” she said.ĭelaney is growing concerned about keeping her employees on the job and making payments due on new equipment. There’s timber sitting on the landing that can’t go anywhere. So, the sale that we were cutting on, we had to stop. Now, she’s sitting on tons of timber with no buyer. “They were one of the largest suppliers for us to take our hardwood and aspen to,” Delaney told VOA. About 40% of the wood Delaney’s company processed supplied the mill. She oversees a workforce and equipment deployed in the forests surrounding Wisconsin Rapids. It also impacts workers beyond the walls of the mill, such as Laura Delaney, who manages her family’s timber harvesting operation and trucking company. “That’s something that impacts me to my core.” “It hits you that this is the first time that this plant will ever shut down in its 120-year history,” Krug said. The mill is scheduled to close in July, in part because the COVID-19 pandemic tanked demand from businesses using the mill’s paper for advertising. Several generations of Krug’s family worked at the paper mill, from its peak when thousands of workers passed through its doors, to its valleys, including the present, when roughly 900 workers who collect a paycheck from current owner Verso Corporation will be the last. Through world wars, great Depressions – it has been here, and it is the solid,” Krug explained to VOA during a recent interview conducted across the river from the facility. “It is the one thing that has survived everything the city has been through and the country has been through. “It is the bloodline, the lifeline of Wisconsin Rapids,” said Scott Krug, a Republican lawmaker who represents the town and surrounding areas in the Wisconsin State Assembly. WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WISCONSIN - The sprawling paper mill situated on the banks of the Wisconsin River that flows through Wisconsin Rapids has long been one of its most defining and important features. ![]()
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