Boise Cascade Announces Plans to Close And Convert Salem Facility

Boise's corrugated container plant at 2121 Madrona Ave SE will continue to operate in Salem.

Photo: Marion County Historical Society

(BOISE, Idaho) - Boise Paper, a business unit of Boise Cascade, LLC, announced Tuesday that it will close its paper converting facility located in Salem.

The converting operations will be phased out over the next nine months with permanent closure scheduled for the end of the third quarter 2007.

The company plans to sell the property.

About 100 people are expected to lose their jobs.

The company's future converting requirements will be provided by Boise's paper mills located in Alabama, Oregon, Minnesota, and Washington.

Boise's corrugated container plant will continue to operate in Salem.

"Demand and supply patterns for paper are changing and we have excess sheeting capacity," said Miles Hewitt, senior vice president and general manager, Boise Paper.

"In our ongoing quest to increase efficiencies and manage costs, we began an analysis of our paper converting operations in January 2006. The physical configuration and layout of the Salem converting facility, which had originally been a paper mill, was not cost competitive, and, given the property value of that location, was not the highest and best use of the property.

"So we studied the feasibility of relocating the facility. However, given the changing demand for paper, we concluded that the best alternative is to close the Salem facility and consolidate our sheeting operations into other facilities," Hewitt said.

Hewitt added, "The city of Salem was very cooperative during our review, and the Urban Lands Institute study they commissioned helped us with our decision. We support the city's desire to develop downtown Salem into a mixed use area and will work to find a new property owner that will support the city's plans."