MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – The public hearing for a tax incentive bill aimed at keeping a Kimberly-Clark facility open is scheduled for Wednesday.
The $100 million package already passed the state Assembly but is currently stalled in the state Senate.
It’s aimed at keeping the companies Neenah facility, which employs about 500 people, open.
Jim Golembeski, the Executive Director of the Bay Area Workforce Development Board, says he’s optimistic about the future of the area’s workforce. One reason is the positive outcomes that have resulted from similar situations in the past.
“We did a survey last Spring of the major dislocations and we were seeing people remain unemployed for only a very brief time,” says Golembeski.
He says most individuals found new employment in a matter of a few weeks.
Also adding to his sense of optimism is the fact that there are companies in the same field located nearby that should be interested in hiring dislocated workers.
“We certainly have other paper companies and paper converting companies who would be very much interested in those workers,” he explains.
Another potential outcome is a little more unusual, but not unlikely enough to be ignored.
Golembeski points towards what happened with Appleton Coated as another possible route the Kimberly-Clark situation could head towards.
The Appleton Coated mill was unable to meet financial obligations and went into receivership, before being bought at auction by Industrial Assets on October 10, 2017. Following the purchase, Industrial Assets restarted machines and began the process of recalling workers.
“Now they’ve revived that factory, hired back more than half the workers, and they are expanding little by little,” says Golembeski.
Obviously, if the plant closes there will be some inevitable heartaches.
“Anytime there’s a plant closing and people lose their jobs, that’s a traumatic experience,” he explains. “That kind of change is just hard and a difficult process.”
The other concern is pay and information from the recent survey previously cited by Golembeski is less than positive on that matter.
“They [displaced workers] are, however, taking a hit with salary,” he says. “They’re not getting back to where they were.”
Wednesday’s hearing is a special session that was called in order for the lame-duck Senate to review the package.
Even though the hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, a vote remains unlikely until after Thanksgiving.
The hearing is at 10 a.m. Wednesday in room 412 East of the State Capitol.
