After 153 years in business, the Halltown Paperboard Mill is permanently closing its waste paper recycling operations, wiping out some 60 manufacturing jobs.
Ox Industries notified its employees Friday that the mill was closing, confirmed Dennis Jarvis, executive director of the Jefferson County Development Authority.
A waste paper drop-off for area residents at the mill on Eyster Road off US 340 no longer accepts household paper for recycling. The mill recycles used paper to manufacture reinforced cardboard for various national and international commercial clients.
Ox Industries operates 10 paper-related manufacturing companies plants in eight other states.
Jarvis said Ox Industries officials have not told county or state officials the reason for the plant’s closure, but the company’s decision was unexpected by him. Recent conversations with managers at Ox Industries, he said, indicated that the company was working on some employee recruitment and supply chain challenges that had become common in other industries since the pandemic.
Earlier this year, Kevin Hayward, chief executive of Ox Industries, said supply chain shortages during the pandemic had little impact on production at the Halltown plant. “We manufacture with recycled waste paper products and we don’t need to import our raw materials,” he said.
Hayward did not respond to a phone message Monday seeking information about the plant closure.
In June, a fire broke out inside a large manufacturing building at the Halltown cardboard mill, causing flames to spread across the entire roof of the two-story structure. There were no injuries, but mill operations were scaled back afterwards.
According to state fire marshals, the estimated damage to the building and equipment within the plant was $1.7 million. The fire started in a paper dryer building and spread across the entire roof of the building, according to Ox Industries and fire officials.
Jarvis said the county’s economic development authority had worked with state officials to acquire government funds to help Ox Industries after the fire. But he added that those efforts did not generate any funding for the company.
In September, a worker was seriously injured at the plant after being trapped by a tractor-trailer, according to public safety sources. Company officials and local emergency medical rescue officials did not comment on the accident.
Jarvis recognized that the 24-hour Halltown plant provided valuable jobs for local and area residents and families. He said the county development office and state officials were directing workers to government employment programs, including help with job searches and retraining. He contacted Blue Ridge Community Technical College in Martinsburg to help, he said.
“We are trying to put together what I call a rapid resource team, training opportunities,” he said, “because there will be money available for affected employees.”
The Halltown mill produced toughened paper products from various waste paper streams.
Throughout its history, the mill has had only four owners. In 1869, the George Eyster family purchased a small mill along Flowing Spring Run in Halltown. Local businessman John Strider joined the Eyster family to begin making cardboard products, and the factory became the commercial hub of the Halltown area.
Just after the turn of the century, a recession caused the factory to run into financial trouble. However, Hayward bought the plant in 2007 at a tax lien auction, saving their jobs and operations. He singled out an employee who had been with the company for 40 years.
“When we bought the company,” he said, “we had a fourth-generation family career employee who stayed with us.”
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