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Members of Wisconsin's congressional delegation are putting pressure on the NewPage Corporation to sell its Kimberly paper mill to any qualified buyer interested in keeping it operating.
Congressman Tom Petri, joined by Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and by Congressman Steve Kagen, sent a letter today requesting a meeting in Washington with John Snow, the Chairman of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., which owns the NewPage Corporation. In their letter, the legislators emphasize the importance of the mill for the Kimberly area and, ask for an opportunity to make their case personally with Snow.
"By all accounts, the mill in Kimberly is a top facility with a good labor force and relatively new capital equipment," they wrote. "It would appear that this mill could have many productive years in its future, as evidenced by reported interest by others in the paper industry in purchasing this property. At a meeting held with the Kimberly workforce in the aftermath of the NewPage announcement, the Village Administrator cited three contacts he had received from serious and interested parties."
"It is important to us, and our constituents in Kimberly and its surrounding communities, that all possible efforts be made to keep Kimberly whole and to preserve its place in the papermaking world. We look forward to sitting down with you to discuss this issue of importance. We will follow-up with your office early next week to schedule a meeting," they wrote.
Of the letter, Petri said, "Every job is important to me. It is particularly galling to have a 6th Congressional District employer shut down even though the business is efficient and competitive. If NewPage doesn't want to run the mill, let somebody else do it. People's livelihoods are at stake."
“The community is reeling from NewPage’s decision to close the Kimberly paper mill, and we will do all we can, in the most practical terms, to be helpful,” Kohl said. “I am proud to join the Wisconsin congressional delegation in seeking a solution that will allow the plant to remain up and running.”
“The people of Kimberly make up a strong, dedicated workforce that any business would be lucky to have,” Feingold said. “I am proud to be working with Congressmen Petri and Kagen and Senator Kohl to secure a meeting with NewPage officials and make it clear to them what a mistake it would be to close this facility and lose this talented workforce. If NewPage is moving in a different direction, it should sell the mill so others who are already interested can benefit from the great assets Kimberly has to offer. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the delegation to help the Kimberly community in any way we can.”
Congressman Kagen said, “The sudden closure of the profitable Kimberly mill is a direct result of our losing trade policies that continue to send our jobs overseas. We must begin to renegotiate balanced trade deals, because current NAFTA and CAFTA-like agreements are nothing more than a free give away of our American jobs.”
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