News of the sale of the Ohio-based company Verso could have major implications on Wisconsin’s paper and timber industries. But the Swedish company that’s buying it hasn’t clarified its plans for the shuttered Wisconsin Rapids mill.
The Rapids mill employed 900 workers and served as the upper Midwest’s largest buyer of Wisconsin forest products until the company took the mill idle in July 2020. The closure has had lasting effects on the city, and on industries that relied on the mill — especially logging.
The packaging company BillerudKorsnäs AB announced Sunday it would acquire Verso Corp. In statements and in a press conference, executives for the company announced a $1 billion, nearly decade-long plan to convert and upgrade the mill in Escanaba, Michigan, into a producer of sustainably made paperboard. They also discussed plans to maintain operations at Verso’s mill in Quinnesec, Michigan.
Conspicuously absent from either company’s statements, though, was significant discussion of Wisconsin Rapids.
more at source: https://www.wpr.org/shuttered-wisconsin-rapids-paper-mill-could-be-sold-following-verso-acquisition