The staggering numbers behind Perry paper mill closing: 2,000 jobs, $10 million in taxes lost

The November closing of the Foley Cellulose Mill in Perry will wreak economic havoc across the Big Bend and will cost Florida nearly 2,000 jobs and $9.9 million in state and local taxes, according to University of Florida economists.

A report from the UF Institue of Food and Agricultural Science describes the paper mill along the Fenholloway River as the main economic driver for a county where one in five residents live below the poverty line.

The Foley paper mill provides Taylor County workers a payroll of $77 million, and offers starting pay for most jobs that is nearly twice the state per capita income of $35,216.

IFAS calculated the Foley mill accounts for more than 12% of county jobs with 525 positions at the plant and another 500 jobs such as loggers and truckers directly dependent on it.

It also produces another $377 million in spending in Taylor County, population 21,283, more than the combined profit of Florida’s three National Football League teams. 

It will take years for Perry to recover from Hurricane Idalia, mill closure

Georgia-Pacific announced it would shutter the paper mill along the Fenholloway River in September, two weeks after Hurricane Idalia pummeled Perry with 125 mph winds.

The Atlanta-based corporation said the "strategic decision" to close the plant had nothing to do with the hurricane and committed to a safe and orderly shutdown.

Local and state officials were blindsided by the announcement and a month later Perry is watching the main driver of its economy slowly withdraw from the community.

“The loggers have already started laying off people,” said Dawn Perez this week.

She is the executive director of the Taylor County Chamber of Commerce.

Perez expects it will take years for the county to recover from the one – two punch of Idalia and the Georgia Pacific announcement.

“The trickledown effect hasn't even really begun yet. It's going to take years to see the damage this has done,” said Perez.

The 69-year-old facility extracts cellulose fiber from wood used in paper products under brands such as Quilted Northern, Angel Soft, Brawny, Dixie, Sparkle and Vanity Fair.

IFAS calculates the Georgia Pacific decision to leave the Big Bend will ripple across the state and depress spending statewide by $571 million with the loss of another 1,879 jobs.

Lawmakers try to help as 28% of community tax base evaporates

Congressman Neil Dunn, R-Panama City, immediately after the announcement called on Georgia Pacific to help displaced workers by extending health benefits, pay and severance for at least six months after the closure.

Dunn said the company’s response to his demands was vague and callous.

Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, predicts it will be devastating to the community when the shutdown is complete.

He told the Tallahassee Democrat he has been in contact with a host of different companies that want to hire workers with highly specialized skills but said his goal is to try and find “good paying jobs that would allow them to stay in Perry and not leave the state or community.”

When the St. Joe Company closed the papermill in Shoaf’s hometown in 1999 he said many workers started new careers as plumbers, electricians, and charter boat captains, while others moved away.

“And then there was the group that just could not, for one reason or another, find a job,” said Shoaf.

"Those folks really were hit the hardest ...  what keeps me up at night is they aren't going to be able to find a job,” said Shoaf.

Shoaf said he is working with trade school and technical colleges to help workers “if they choose to skill up.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment on the IFAS study.

Taylor Brown is executive director of the Taylor County Development Authority and said Georgia Pacific accounts for 28% of the community’s tax base. If the company has any plans to help during the transition, Brown said “it is keeping it close to its chest.”

Brown was hired three days after the Georgia Pacific announcement and said the community is still reeling from the news.

Locals are unsure if Georgia Pacific intends to sell the plant, whether they should work to find a buyer, think of how to repurpose the plant, or find another use for the forested land that surrounds Perry.

“(Eventually) landowners are going to start looking at what's the highest and best use of those lands. And that could spur different kinds of development,” said Brown.

Perry: From Tree Capital of the South to chip capital?

While Taylor County, which currently bills itself as the Tree Capital of the South, wonders whether it will be forced to find a new identity, Super-Pufft Snacks USA Inc. announced it has invested more than $60 million in a state-of-the art facility in Perry and will begin making Utz potato chips.

Originally a Canadian popcorn company, Super-Pufft set up a factory in Perry in 2017 and has grown to be the largest producer of private label chips and snacks in North America.

Super-Pufft supplies restaurants and supermarket chains with their private brands.

A co-marketing agreement with Utz to make and distribute the iconic brand will make SuperPufft, Taylor County’s largest private employer.

The company said its Taylor County workforce will number 330 and projects it will have a $603 million impact on the regional economy.

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com and is on X as @CallTallahassee

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Perry mill closing hurts Florida economy; town looks to potato chips