Laid Off Workers Surviving in the North Country

By Jim on April 15th, 2008

Despite the paper mill layoffs, some workers are surviving. Just goes to show you that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Kudos to these workers for making their own way.

After commuting north to his paper mill job in Groveton for more than 13 years, Richard Brown headed south for a new job within days after the mill closed earlier this year.

“I don’t believe in being unemployed,” Brown said.

Wausau Paper closed its doors on Jan. 1, and although some workers have remained to finish up shipping orders and clean up, 303 people were affected.

Of those 303, 112 people have found employment, according to Murray Rogers, manager of the Workers’ Assistance Center in Groveton. Another 47 people are still finishing up work at the Wausau mill, he said, and another 48 are in training programs, provided by federal trade adjustment benefits. Rogers said nine people have relocated to other parts of the country.

“They went where their skills took them,” Rogers said. “A lot of them looked at this as the opportunity they had been wishing for, even if it led them out of New Hampshire. One door closes, another opened.”

Brown opted to take a job at the other end of the state, in Peterborough, where he started at New Hampshire Ball Bearing on Jan. 4.