April 2 (UPI) — North Carolina workers affected by a paper mill closure and layoffs were awarded an additional $2 million Wednesday by the Department of Labor.
The Department of Labor said in a statement, “The funding will ensure impacted workers have uninterrupted access to needed resources, including employment and training services.”
The money is going to workers who lost jobs when Pactiv Evergreen’s Canton paper mill closed and workers were laid off at the company’s Waynesville facility.
Funding from the labor department is going to help workers across 11 North Carolina counties.
The workers got an initial $7.5 million National Dislocated Worker grant in June of 2023 plus an additional $2.5 million award.
According to the Department of Labor, the money will be used for retraining, job search assistance, and skills development for workers in Clay, Buncombe, Graham, Cherokee, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Swain and Transylvania counties.
The jobs were lost when Pactiv Evergreen sold the former paper mill in Canton to Spirtas Worldwide, based in St. Louis.
The companies fought a legal battle over the paper mill site after devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
Spirtas said in a statement when the sale became official that it planned to “breathe new life into this dormant site.”
The affected workers got financial help under the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
