Natchez, Mississippi officials are scrambling in an effort to find a potential buyer for the International Paper Co.'s Natchez cellulose mill before the scheduled mid-year closing.

The company announced the pending closure of the 52-year old plant on January 23, 2003.

This closure will mean the loss of employment for 519 hourly workers and 71 salaried employees. International Paper's stated reason for shutting down the plant is the lack of a market for their product which is primarily used for manufacturing fabrics and cigarette filters.

"Phase One begins April 6 when 129 positions will be eliminated," said IP spokesman Luther Dangerfield at the Natchez plant Tuesday.

At the moment, the mill is running full speed. It is "Business as usual," said Dangerfield. He also reiterated that the company had put the mill on the market 18 months ago with no buyers coming forward. The Natchez plant is the only cellulose producer in the International Paper group.

Plant manager Steve Olsen stated at a press conference earlier this month one reason for few looking to purchase the plant could be that the price for cellulose is down. He also cited an increase in imported cheap forest products, a worldwide recession and equipment at the mill which needs replacing, as some of the factors leading to the plant's closure.

Representative of International paper, union officials, Natchez Mayor F.L. "Hank" Smith, and others placed their needs before Republican Senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Third District) while on a trip to Washington, D.C. at mid-February in an effort to uncover federal tax incentives and other ways and means of securing new owners for the Natchez site. Another meeting was held in Natchez involving IP representatives and aides to Lott and Pickering.

"Are we working on this problem? You betcha," stated Michael Ferdinand, Executive Director of the Economic Development Authority in Natchez. He further asserted that a committee involving people at the local, state and federal levels has been formed to research alternative uses for the plant as well as prospective buyers for the cellulose processing mill.

"We are hopeful that we can identify prospective buyers," said Ferdinand. "We are working on what will be the best case scenario for using the plant.

International Paper Co. main headquarters is also actively involved with the search for either a new use for the plant or a buyer.

"Local city leaders, county officials are actively partnered with IP to look for alternate uses for this mill," stated Dangerfield. During a recent visit to Washington, Natchez representative found several avenues to receive tax incentives and grant money to aid any buyer who considered purchasing the mill. Also, local utility company Entergy and the University of Southern Mississippi are among those helping to find a marketing plan for the mill.

One grant available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would fund a study of ways the area can best sell its strengths to prospective industries. Other funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture could fund infrastructure and development of new industrial properties according to economic development officials who made the trip to the Capital.

Another possibility would be the creation of a secondary Enterprise Community Empowerment Zone designation for the area around Natchez. While there are already such zones in existence that allow special federal tax credits per employee, businesses in Adams County at present can't receive credit if they employ people from another zone without the secondary designation.

Officials have also attempted to figure the impact the loss of so much wage earning and tax base. One independent study came up with $183 million as the amount the mill's closing will pull from the local, state, and national economies. The study also presumed that IP employees generate about $1.6 million in sales tax of which nearly $300,000 went to the city of Natchez.

That study used figures estimating that an annual payroll at IP came to $33 million. From this, an additional $18.3 million went to merchants in Adams and surrounding counties, according to reports. The study also showed the impact on immediately surrounding ares in the Adams County district could lose as much as $109.8 million in sales.

Not only are mill workers worried. Log haulers from around the Natchez are are also wringing their hands at the prospective loss of the IP wood market. Forest Resources, which supplies all of Internatinal Paper wood needs spoke to the Piney Woods Journal briefly on Wednesday, February 26.

"We will contniue to honor all contracts that we have with wood suppliers," stated Mike Cranston, Forest Resources facilty Team leader. Then after the plant closes around mid-year, Cranston went on to say that Forest Resources "intends to remain a very active purchaser of wood in the Natchez drain area."

Natchez is located on the east side of the Mississippi River, across the Highway 84 bridge from Vidalia on the Louisiana side. IP owns considerable pine forest acreage on the Louisiana side of the river, with wood supplies to its mills coming from Louisiana and Mississippi forests. IP also operates a paper mill just outside Pineville in Central Louisiana, plus a major paper mill at Bastrop in Northeast Louisiana.

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