July 17, 2010 —
A printing and commercial packaging company announced Friday it will close its Newport News plant and lay off 35 workers. Shorewood Packaging, which is a subsidiary of International Paper Corp., will shut down the plant by October.
"Shifting customer demand and the economic recession led to the unfortunate, and very difficult, decision to close the Newport News facility," said Mike Ukropina, Shorewood Packaging's president, in a release.
"Plant leaders and employees have done an excellent job with productivity, quality, cost and safety, and we will do everything we can to support them during this transition," he said.
The plant at 815 Chapman Way has been in operation since 1979 and produces packaging for primarily the tobacco industry, according to the release.
The company announced nearly a year ago that it would lay off 105 workers at the Newport News plant and close its lithographic section, which printed and converted packaging for the consumer products industry.
At the time, the company said the plant's tobacco packaging printing operation employed about 70 workers.
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
Source: The Virginia-Pilot
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