The Putney Paper Mill underwent renovations in 1994. (Brattleboro Historical Society/Reformer collection) Brattleboro Historical Society/Reformer collection
By JEFF POTTER and FRAN LYNGGAARD HANSEN Mother Jumbo Roll Facial Tissue
A paper mill has operated next to Sacketts Brook in downtown Putney, Vt., for more than 150 years — a tradition that came to an abrupt end on Tuesday with the sudden closure of Putney Paper Mill by its current owner, New Jersey-based Soundview Vermont Holdings LLC.
According to the Vermont Department of Labor, 127 employees are affected.
Workers expecting to report for duty on Tuesday were notified of the closure when they were directed to stay home. Some employees later reported to the mill to discuss severance pay and other details.
According to a news release from Soundview, the decision “to shut down its papermaking operations, effective immediately, and to wind down its converting operations by the end of the first quarter of 2024” was based on high energy costs.
As of 2017, 50 people worked in the Mill Street facility manufacturing paper and another 80 people worked a mile away, in Soundview’s Kathan Meadow Road converting facility, to “turn parent rolls into finished goods,” according to testimony to the House Committee on Natural Resources, Fish, and Wildlife by then-general manager Brian Gauthier.
“The high cost of energy in the region has made it unaffordable to keep our doors open,” said Rob Baron, the company’s president and chief executive officer, in the news release. “Our top priority moving forward will be supporting our incredible employees and their families throughout this difficult transition.”
According to an industry directory, the company manufactured paper and paper products for packaging and for household use.
The products included “primarily the toiletries and cleaning supplies carrying the Marcal brand,” according to a 2017 recruitment video posted on Soundview’s behalf by Keene, N.H.-based TPI Staffing Group.
In the news release, Baron said that “over the past decade, the company invested tens of millions of dollars to strengthen the mill, but the rising energy costs were too insurmountable to sustain operations. The decision to close the mill comes after careful consideration and a recognition that there was not a viable path forward.”
The recruitment video described Soundview as “a key member of the local economy for generations” and said that “many employees are following in their parents’ or even their grandparents’ footsteps.”
Soundview purchased the Putney Paper Mill in 2012. According to the town’s 2023 Grand List, the mill is assessed at $1.12 million. Other parcels added $128,000 to the town’s property tax base.
State Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, called the closure “terrible news” for the employees and their families.
In an email to The Commons on Tuesday morning, he also expressed concern “that the company is not compliant with the federal (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act and the Vermont Notice of Potential Layoffs Act.”
Jay Ramsey, the Vermont Department of Labor’s workforce development director, confirmed that it received notification from Soundview on Tuesday morning.
He said that while Soundview might technically be in violation of the WARN Act — which requires a major employer to provide a 60-day warning of a mass layoff or closure under most circumstances — a company can offset that violation by providing severance pay and benefits.
This scenario is common enough that it is discussed in detail on a page of frequently asked questions on the Federal Department of Labor’s website.
The DOL will be “reaching out directly to the impacted workers to make sure they’re aware of resources that are available to help them land softly,” said Ramsey, who noted that Soundview has started to work with the state to provide a “rapid response.”
“The workforce development team comes in to provide information to the impacted workers about how to file for unemployment, where they can access other state services like health insurance and to learn how the Workforce Development Division can help them find a new job or access supports for training, if that’s what they decide they want to do,” Ramsey added.
Personnel from the Brattleboro and Springfield offices and DOL managers from Montpelier have begun to work on site to counsel employees through the transition.
Ramsey expected that by last Wednesday, the Department of Labor would be coordinating with the New Hampshire Employment Services Division’s office in Cheshire, N.H.
“We can coordinate across the state lines to have people go to whatever office makes the most sense,” he said. “Each state receives this kind of federal financial support to help people who have been dislocated through no fault of their own.”
Federal funds are available to help employees with “retraining or even upskilling, if people want to do that,” Ramsey said.
“Not to take the shock away from the impacted employees or the community there, but I think the prospects are good for those impacted to find a new job relatively quickly,” Ramsey said, citing a “very tight labor market” for Vermont employers challenged to fill available positions. He anticipates that other employers might reach out to the Department of Labor and seek connections to Soundview workers.
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