Region Archives: US East

Owners of the closed Allegheny Wood Products company in West Virginia have been indicted on a multitude of felony counts of larceny, according to news reports. News station WHSV in Harrisburg, Virginia, citing Hardy County Circuit Court documents, said that owner John Crites Sr. and his children John Crites Jr. and Kelly Crites each face 12 felony charges in six cases where they are accused of allegedly defrauding loggers. According to the report, the three were charged with obtaining money by false pretenses and conspiracy to obtain money by false pretenses in each case. They are accused of not paying for the timbered logs they acquired. …Allegheny Wood Products, a 50-year-old West Virginia-based internationally known hardwood producer, closed its doors Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, and eliminated as many as 850 full-time and outside contractors.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Rayonier Advanced Materials, a leader in High Purity Cellulose, announced that power has been fully restored to its Jesup, Georgia site and that the A Line has restarted operations. The A Line, which primarily produces cellulose specialties for use in filtration, food and pharmaceuticals, and tire cord, is currently operating at approximately 80 percent capacity, with an anticipated ramp-up to full capacity within a week. Repair work on the B line is ongoing and is expected to be completed with a restart on or around October 28. The Company continues to assess the financial cost of the incident along with any potential insurance recovery.

The state of Michigan and Michigan Economic Development Corporation announce a five million dollar investment that supports energy efficiency upgrades at a Houghton County lumber manufacturer. On Thursday Governor Whitmer’s office and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced Northern Hardwoods Lumber in Atlantic Mine, and Cedar Street Real Estate will receive a share of 5.5 million dollars that will lower operating costs for the lumber manufacturer, and create housing in Manistique. Northern Hardwoods Lumber plans to install a new biomass boiler and back-pressure steam turbine at its Atlantic Mine facility. The investment in the facility will provide opportunities to reduce operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Northern Hardwoods will receive the majority of the announced funding.

International Paper on Monday confirmed hundreds of layoffs related to newly disclosed facility closures in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee. This follows the company last week confirming 650 layoffs across its headquarters and a separate manufacturing site in Texas. A WARN notice posted in Tennessee on Monday detailed the permanent closure of a container plant in the city of Cleveland, which is near Chattanooga. A total of 115 workers there will be affected. …A WARN notice that the state of North Carolina posted on Friday also noted a permanent closure at a container plant in Statesville. It will affect 74 employees. The company confirmed that it is closing a packaging facility in the Kansas City, Missouri, area and will lay off 150 employees. Additionally, it confirmed plans to close another packaging facility, in Rockford, Illinois. Operations at the four facilities will end on or by Dec. 18, according to spokesperson Amy Simpson.

Trevor Cutsinger

Trevor Cutsinger has joined the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities (the Endowment) as vice president, natural capital solutions. The Endowment is the nation’s largest public charity dedicated to serving the forestry sector, and Cutsinger will work hand in hand with investors, foundations and corporations seeking to make investments for forest-positive impact. “Trevor brings to the Endowment a deep experience in forestry, carbon markets and conservation finance” said Pete Madden, president and CEO. “With his extensive experience in the forestry sector, forest conservation community and work with investors and institutional timberland managers, he is uniquely positioned to forge strategic financial partnerships and expand funding for our programs. He is passionate about the Endowment’s role in catalyzing innovative, market-driven solutions to improve the health and resilience of our working forests and the communities that depend on their sustainable management.”

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Global packaging and pulp producer International Paper is closing one of its San Antonio plants and issuing pink slips to 89 workers. The Memphis-based company told the Texas Workforce Commission it is shuttering its plant at 610 Pop Gunn St. on the city’s East Side in mid-November. Equipment operators, mechanics, shipping staff and electricians at the cardboard production plant, also known as a sheet feeder plant, are among those being laid off, according to a list International Paper sent to the commission. They were notified in September and can apply for positions at other International Paper facilities, the company said. International Paper also operates a container plant at 1111 AT&T Center Parkway. The status of that facility was unclear Wednesday. …International Paper is laying off about 650 employees company-wide, including 400 in Memphis.

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ASHVILLE, North Carolina — Norfolk Southern Railway track running through Asheville, North Carolina, will be out of service for at least three months due to damage caused by Hurricane Helene. The deadly Hurricane Helene made landfall Sept. 26, severely flooding and damaging infrastructure and homes across multiple southern states. Hundreds of NS railroaders have been working to restore rail service on impacted rail lines as quickly as possible, NS said on its website. The railroad’s AS Line runs between Morristown, Tennessee, to Salisbury, North Carolina. Knoxville, Tennessee-based WBIR-TV reported yesterday on the status of the AS Line and its impact on the Asheville community. Service has been restored to AS Line track between Morristown and Newport, Tennessee, and between Salisbury and Old Fort, North Carolina. Track between Newport and Old Fort, which run through Asheville, will require significant repair and replacement.

Hardware wholesaler True Value has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid plans to sell its business to its home improvement rival Do It Best. True Value, based in Chicago, said that all of its 4,500 stores will remain open during the bankruptcy process because they are independently owned. The 75-year-old company initiated the proceedings in order to enter into an agreement with Do It Best, which has offered to pay $153 million in cash to purchase the business. True Value, which sells tools, lumber and plumbing, said that it has succumbed to slumping sales that have affected other companies in the sector. …Under the agreement with Do It Best will become a “stalking horse” bidder. …True Value remains open to better offers. The transaction with Do it Best is expected to close by the end of the year.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — International Paper confirmed Wednesday the company will cut about 650 total positions, including around 400 in Memphis. The company said it will provide severance packages, outplacement assistance and mental health resources to all affected employees. “International Paper is undergoing a transformational journey to become a stronger, more profitable sustainable packaging solutions company. A critical step in this journey is to organize our teams and resources to create the most value for customers and shareholders,” a spokesperson said. …According to the Memphis Business Journal, International Paper was the 23rd largest employer in the Memphis area this year with about 2,500 employees. …The company said it has about 39,000 employees around the world.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida — Rayonier Advanced Materials reported that an isolated fire occurred at its Jesup, Georgia facility on October 11 at approximately 6 p.m. during planned maintenance activity. …The fire was quickly contained with no injuries to employees or contractors and no risk to the surrounding community. The Company is thoroughly investigating the event’s causes in close collaboration with relevant experts and authorities. The Jesup plant is the Company’s largest facility, with a production capacity of 330,000 metric tons of cellulose specialties (A and B lines) and an additional 270,000 metric tons of fluff pulp (C line). While the plant’s C line operations have resumed, the A and B lines will remain offline for repairs with a target start date the week of October 28. The majority of the repairs will be focused on instrumentation and electrical cabling systems in the isolated area near the fire.

It’s official: shares of America’s largest wood-pellet exporter are worthless. The New York Stock Exchange said it would delist Enviva’s stock on October 22 and that shareholders would receive no recovery. The notice cements one of the most dramatic collapses of the green-energy investing boom. Enviva’s stock market value ballooned to nearly $6 billion in 2022 before a wrong-way bet on pellet prices bankrupted the firm. Enviva, which makes pellets of compressed sawdust for overseas power plants to burn instead of coal, said that it will not appeal the stock exchange’s action. Enviva originally proposed giving shareholders a 5% equity stake in a restructured company. In its latest plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, however, shareholders are wiped out and Enviva emerges as a private company. A court hearing to confirm the plan is scheduled for Nov. 13.

TAMPA, Florida — Hurricane Milton barreled into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday after plowing across Florida, where it knocked out power to more than 3 million customers and whipped up a barrage of tornadoes. The storm caused at least four deaths and compounded the misery wrought by Helene while sparing Tampa a direct hit. The system tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall late Wednesday as a Category 3 storm in Siesta Key, about 70 miles south of Tampa. …The deadly storm surge feared for Tampa apparently did not materialize, though the storm dumped up to 18 inches of rain in some parts of the area, the governor said. The worst storm surge appeared to be in Sarasota County, where it was 8 to 10 feet. …As dawn broke, officials repeated that the danger had not passed: Storm-surge warnings were posted for much of the east-central Florida coast and north into Georgia.

SKOWHEGAN, Maine — Air Filtration Specialist for Sappi and member of United Steelworkers 4-9 Shawn Bean said, “we’re working longer hours, working harder, and having to do more jobs”. USW 4-9 members rallied on Tuesday to speak out against their current working conditions and fight for a fair contract with the Sappi Paper Mill. …In response, officials with Sappi North America say they feel they’ve presented a highly competitive offer. Sappi’s Corp Communications Peter Steele said: “We take exception to the union’s characterization of the issues regarding overtime and vacation benefits. We remain hopeful that we will reach an agreement.” …Members of USW 4-9 will be meeting with officials from Sappi on Oct. 17 to further discuss contract negotiations.