The shutdown of five paper mills in southeast Georgia is expected to slash $2.9 billion annually from the state’s economy, lawmakers were told during a House Rural Development Committee hearing on Wednesday.
International Paper is closing four facilities—two in Riceboro and two in Savannah—by the end of September. Georgia-Pacific shut down its Cedar Springs mill in July. The closures are delivering a “gut punch” to local communities, according to Devon Dartnell, Forest Utilization Chief at the Georgia Forestry Commission.
Dartnell broke down the economic toll: $1.7 billion in direct impact, $845 million in indirect effects, and $318 million in lost wages.
Bert Brantley, president of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, said job fairs are being held this week to help affected workers. Liberty County also hosted a job fair Wednesday to assist those displaced.
Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper stated that the International Paper closures caught state officials off guard. House Speaker Jon Burns echoed the sentiment and noted that southeast Georgia still hasn’t recovered from Hurricane Helene, which devastated timber across multiple counties a year ago.
Much of the downed timber from that storm remains unrecovered, and with mills shutting down, there’s even less opportunity for salvage. Burns expressed sorrow at the sight of unusable timber still littering counties like Coffee and Effingham.
State officials are weighing both short- and long-term solutions. Jake Matthews, vice president of the Georgia Forestry Association, urged support for federal efforts to remove international trade barriers affecting Georgia’s forest exports. Matthews also pointed to bioenergy as a key opportunity for future growth, particularly for small-diameter wood and residuals.
Bioenergy could help fuel data centers, which Matthews said could consume up to 1.2 million tons of wood annually for a 100-megawatt operation.
