Plant to close, 82 jobs eliminated

SHELBY, N.C. — As Clearwater Paper continued building its manufacturing center, and the company’s permanence in Cleveland County, a company across the street began the process of closing shop.

A woman who answered the phone at the Shelby Rock-Tenn Co. plant on Monday referred calls about the plant’s closing to the company’s corporate office. Repeated calls to the corporate office were not returned.

Jobs lost

The closing of the plant site, formerly known as Smurfit-Stone, will eliminate 82 positions, according to Kristin Fletcher, executive vice president of the Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership.

Fletcher said a team comprised of local leaders, Employment Security Commission representatives, community college representatives, state partners and others will partner to help those who will lose their job.

“Our team is ready to assist the company with displaced workers,” she said. “Losing your job can be a really traumatic experience. They really want to be a resource and help lessen the blow.”

Attractive site for new company

County economic development leaders previously said land in the western part of the county, near Washburn Switch Road, is attractive to companies looking to move to Cleveland County.

The reasoning, Fletcher said, is proximity to a rail line, the City of Shelby already making an investment in building infrastructure, shovel-ready sites and closeness to metro areas like Charlotte and Greenville-Spartanburg.

And, in this case, there’s already an existing $2.6 million facility waiting for a new company to move in.

“We get a lot of requests for buildings of that size,” Fletcher said. “It’s a fantastic location. Even though this is very disappointing to us that the company is closing, we’re looking to turn the negative into a positive.”

WSOC