BRUNSWICK — The economy claimed another casualty Tuesday. Georgia-Pacific is “closing indefinitely” its Brunswick gypsum plant, idling its 20 remaining employees, company officials said.
“We’re winding down production and by the end of the year all operations will cease at the plant,” Randal Morris, company spokesman, said.
Officials told the employees Tuesday morning. The workers will continue being paid into early January 2010 and receive their benefits through the end of January, Morris said.
The employees worked in the plant’s plaster operation, which fabricates a flooring underlay product. They will be eligible to apply for open positions at the company’s other facilities, Morris said.
“This is not a reflection of our employees or their work. They did a great job,” he said.
The closure is a continuation of Georgia-Pacific’s consolidation of its operations. Because of a downturn in housing construction, it has been scaling back since last year when it shut down wallboard production at the Brunswick plant.
When wallboard manufacturing ceased, about 60 of the plant’s 80 employees were laid off, leaving the 20 who learned Tuesday they, too, are being idled.
“It’s market conditions. The demand for building materials is way down, and has not turned around,” he said. “It is not for sale. … Sometime in the future, we hope to reopen the plant.”
The plant opened in 1959 and once employed as many as 150 workers. It primarily provided building materials used in Florida and other Southeastern states.
Woody Woodside, president of the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce, said the closure is troubling but not surprising given the economy.
“It’s disappointing but really a reflection of the times they are in,” Woodside said.
Georgia-Pacific has a tremendous investment in the plant and has been an asset to the community, he said.
“We are hoping to see this plant jump back with the economy,” Woodside said.
