The Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce

WHATCHAMACOLUMN

By LeRoy Tipton, President

Email chamber@graysharbor.org

WEYCO CLOSING IS NOT THE LAST NAIL

In 1992, upon the closure of the ITT Rayonier and dozens of other mills the Seattle media came to Grays Harbor. A television reporter stuck a microphone in my face and said, “I guess this is the last nail in the coffin of Grays Harbor, isn’t it?” I emphatically said that it was not.  The reporter slapped the microphone away from my face and said, “I guess I should not expect the truth from the Chamber President.”  His assumption was unfounded. Neither will it be the last nail for the Harbor, should the two Weyerhaeuser mills close as announced.

Our sympathies are with the hundreds of individuals, families, businesses and our two cities, which will be negatively affected if the mills close, and for whom the very announcement has already been traumatic. But we will get back up on our feet and fight on just as we did in the 70s, and 80s, and 90s.

An economic analysis paints a very grim picture of the potential dollars and jobs that could be lost as a result of the Weyerhaeuser closures. While the analysis is credible and factual, the predicted impact will only occur if we do nothing to mitigate our losses.”

Several factors contributed to reducing the catastrophic impacts of the 90s mill closures. Rayonier contributed $400,000 in impact payments to the city of Hoquiam to help them gradually ramp down the devastating tax loss.  They provided money for counseling and re-training and generous severance pay for their employees.  Rayonier also contributed generously to community organizations to enable them to assist in the transition.  We believe Weyerhaeuser will also provide generous early retirement, and severance payments to their employees and hopefully assist the cities and organizations in the transition as well.

With the previous mill closures many displaced workers took retirement, started their own business, were retrained, or found work in other mills.  Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council and Grays Harbor College provided retraining opportunities for the dislocated workers.  The state and federal government financially assisted workforce training and extended unemployment benefits.

Numerous community organizations and churches worked together to provide social services for individuals and families of those who lost their jobs.  The legislature helped us draft and pass legislation to assist existing businesses and in attracting new business to Grays Harbor.

Governor Christine Gregoire said, “Now is the time for us to be creative and optimistic.” We can be encouraged by the fact that we are better positioned to take advantage of the same types of mitigation today than were we in the 90s, 70s, and 80s.

Fortunately, there is not the accompanying loss of millions of board feet of timber harvests and consequential logging and trucking jobs, as there were at the time of the mill closures in the early 90s.  Even if Weyerhaeuser’s mills close, they will remain a strong employer with nearly 600 remaining Grays Harbor jobs.  Further, they have stated they will continue to support many local community organizations and causes. Last year their foundation gave more than $135,000 to local charities and another $85,000 to community organizations.

Our overall economy has improved.  We have gained 3,500 jobs in the last four years with a low of 6.5% unemployment.  Retail sales, tourism, construction, and new developments are rising. More than one billion dollars is on deposit in our local banks.

Our economy is now more diversified.  We have new manufacturers, the highest available technology, rapidly growing businesses, and scores of construction projects under way - none of which are subject to the pending impact of the Weyerhaeuser layoffs.

We have a number of job openings now that we did not have when the mills closed in the early 90s. The Chamber is partnered and co-located with WorkSource Grays Harbor. Our staffs are working to fill more than 450 job openings.  These positions vary from entry level to family wage jobs.

Admittedly, many of the available jobs will not provide the generous wage and benefits enjoyed by present Weyerhaeuser employees.  Moreover, many of these positions will require the retraining of bright and able dislocated mill workers.

America’s largest yacht builder, Westport Shipyard, has partnered with community colleges and trade schools in our region to provide training for possible employment as yacht finish carpenters, yacht marine carpenters, electricians, welders and many other positions.

Sierra Pacific has a new mill, with plans in place to build another mill in our area.  Because of the efforts of the Quigg family and their colleagues, Grays Harbor Paper rose up from the ashes of a closed paper mill to employ several hundred workers.

Satsop Development Park with available buildings and state of the art technology is a tremendous asset to us now.  Several believe we should get a commitment from state and federal officials to direct business to the park now. State agencies need to be creative in considering the use of Satsop facilities rather than to build new buildings in overcrowded Thurston, Pierce, King and Snohomish Counties.  Federal & State Departments need to consider how Satsop could be used as a training facility, a storage facility, for homeland security use, etc

Puget Sound and Pacific railroad provides excellent rail service, which is the lifeline to a diversifying Port of Grays Harbor and many local private businesses.  The East County Industrial Park is also available for industry. Developments are taking place in every area of the county.

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There are four areas we need is to pursue now.  We must first take advantage of what we already have, such as Satsop, the rail, the port, and our tourism and commercial businesses. We need regulatory assistance and streamlining to create more jobs. Funding for infrastructure improvements is needed and, regardless of what happens to the mills, better workforce training

Tami Garrow, the popular CEO of the Satsop Development Park recently said, “We have to stop the wailing and moaning before it infects the community with gloom again.  We have made huge progress these past few years and it would be awful to be back to being our own worst enemy.”

The sun was beginning to rise again above the Harbor when the news of the closures created a dark and gloomy day.  Together, we will get through this setback.  The sun will shine again on the Harbor. If we look closely, we will see it has already begun to shine.