Verso Paper mill in Jay to lay off 190

Illustration / Matt Selva Verso announced on Tuesday that about 190 employees will be laid off at the Androscoggin Mill in Jay.

Write a Comment

By Staff

Approximately 190 employees will be laid off at the Verso paper mill in Jay as the company announced that it would temporarily idle the mill’s No. 3 paper machine. The Androscoggin Mill employs 575 people, according to the company’s website.

According to a Tuesday news release, the temporary idle would reduce annual coated paper production by approximately 200,000 tons. Verso said that it plans to implement the reduced capacity production in the first quarter of 2017, but that most of the products made by the No. 3 machine will now be produced by other machines in the company’s manufacturing system and no disruption is expected in customer orders.

"It's critical to Verso's long-term success that we balance the supply of our products with our customers' demand for them, and we currently have more coated paper capacity in our mill system than we can fill," Michael Weinhold, Verso senior vice president for sales, marketing and product development, said in a prepared statement. "Verso made the decision to temporarily idle the No. 3 paper machine and transition the machine's production to lower-cost machines in our manufacturing system to help us stay ahead of the curve and move the entire company toward sustained profitability. At the same time, we are positioning the mill for future success by optimizing equipment, enhancing process efficiency and expanding production for the growing specialty papers market."

Verso said that it “will continue to evaluate market conditions to determine if and when the No. 3 paper machine at the Androscoggin Mill will be restarted,” but noted that if the machine is not restarted, the roughly 190 jobs will be eliminated, according to the release.

Jay paper mill owner reports $110M operating loss

Verso bankruptcy reorganization gets the go ahead

Jay mill owner, Verso, emerges from bankruptcy

Verso Paper restructures mill network in cost-cutting effort

Verso looking at options that include 'potential sale or merger'