Officials from Plum Creek Timber Co. announced plans Monday to permanently close its Pablo sawmill. The company said the fate of sawmills in Columbia Falls and Evergreen is uncertain, giving a 60-day notice of possible layoffs to employees at both mills and saying future operation would be based on economic conditions and performance.
The company issued notices Monday to 87 employees at the Pablo facility, as well as to 69 workers at its Evergreen sawmill and 130 employees at its Columbia Falls sawmill.
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires companies that employ more than 100 people to provide 60-days notices in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs.
The Pablo mill near Polson, which produces pine boards, has been operating at one shift, according to a press release from the timber company. The mill will continue to run for the next 60 days or until log inventory is depleted, whichever comes first, before closing permanently.
Plum Creek officials said employees will be paid for 60 days, whether the mill operates that long. They will then receive severance pay and be eligible for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits, which provide tuition relief for retraining.
Meanwhile, sawmills in Columbia Falls and Evergreen may have just another 60 days to operate.
After shutting down in January due to the slumping wood products industry, the Columbia Falls pine board sawmill reopened in mid-March and is currently operating with one-and-a-half shifts and 130 employees.
The Evergreen stud sawmill, which employees 69 people, has been closed since early January. Employees there will return to work on May 4 to restart the mill, Plum Creek said.
“These two mills will run for 60 days,” according to a press release from Plum Creek’s media contact Kathy Budinick. “The decision to operate these facilities beyond that time will be based on market conditions and the economic performance of each mill.”
Rick Holley, Plum Creek president and chief executive officer, said in the press release that the cuts were again the result of waning demand for wood products because of the troubled housing market.
“Housing starts dropped again last month and we expect economic conditions to continue to put pressure on new construction,” Holley said in the release. “Unfortunately, we must, once again, take steps to attempt to match supply with the eroding demand. We regret that the Pablo mill closure will affect a number of our valued employees and their families.”