FORKS — Forty-five mill workers who lost their jobs when Allen Logging Co. closed last summer are now eligible for federal job training assistance, U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer announced.
The idled West End workers can acquire new skills through the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which helps those who have lost their jobs due to increased imports from other countries.
The U.S. Department of Labor recently approved Allen Logging for Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) benefits. It had not been eligible earlier.
“Congressman Kilmer’s staff paid close attention to this,” said county Commissioner Bill Peach, who represents the West End.
“They tried for assistance, and the issue of equity resonated.”
Information sessions
WorkSource Grays Harbor and Peninsula College will host a pair of benefit information sessions for former Allen Logging employees in Forks on Thursday, April 7.
The two-hour sessions will begin at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Room 103 at the Peninsula College Forks Extension, 481 S. Forks Ave.
Spouses are welcome.
WorkSource counselors and Peninsula College worker retraining staff will be available to answer questions.
For more information, phone 360-538-2350.
Assisting employees
Peach has been working to assist Allen Logging employees who did not receive the same benefits that their counterparts at the Interfor mill in Forks received.
“It came to me from a person that wanted to go to school. He wanted to study to be an automotive mechanic,” Peach said at the county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday.
“And I’m really, really happy to offer the information to you that as of last Thursday, the Allen’s mill employees have been authorized to receive benefits, and I’d offer my praise to Congressman Kilmer.”
Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, is a Port Angeles native who represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula.
Peach, a Forks-area Republican, said there were many people who worked on the issue.
Forks City Attorney and Planner Rod Fleck, in particular, was a driving force behind the effort, Peach said Friday.
“Our neck of the woods has been hit hard by mill closures,” Kilmer said in a news release.
“So it’s good news that TAA will provide quality job training to give folks on the Olympic Peninsula opportunities to find new work.
“There is still a lot to do to grow jobs on the Olympic Peninsula, and that’s what I am focused on,” Kilmer said.
Allen Logging
Allen Logging, which operated near the Hoh River in west Jefferson County for more than 60 years, closed in July.
Company officials cited foreign competition for domestic private timber, regulations on harvesting trees from state and federal lands, an unpredictable wood supply and the low prices of foreign logs as reasons for the closure.
Allen Logging was the last production softwood mill west of Port Angeles.
It closed about a year after the demise of the Interfor sawmill in Beaver, Interfor planer mill in Forks and Green Creek mill in west Port Angeles.
The TAA program, which began in 1962 and was reauthorized last year, includes job training assistance, income support while in training and job search and relocation assistance.
The program also helps farmers, fishermen and firms develop and implement business plans to regain a competitive foothold, according to Kilmer’s office.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
