Georgia-Pacific’s composite panels business has made the difficult decision to close its Hope, Arkansas, and Monroeville, Alabama, particleboard facilities permanently over the next 60-90 days. It have also chosen not to rebuild the Thomson, Georgia facility which was severely damaged by fire recently.
Approximately
100 employees at each facility will be impacted.
Demand for particleboard remains flat, and new mills from other producers will increase capacity in the market as much as 25 percent. These new mills are larger than our mills, use state of the art technology, and are more efficient than our mills, making it difficult for our assets to compete economically going forward.
The company will ensure that all employees will be paid all earned wages and agreed upon benefits at the time of their discharge.
The
company has openings at other GP/Koch facilities in the Southeast and
throughout the country, and we will be working with our particle board
employees to explore those roles and apply for positions.
