PORT ANGELES — The KPly Inc. plywood mill, which has been idled since November, told its 132 employees Friday that it would close, and they would be permanently laid off, in 60 days.
The workers at the mill at 439 Marine Drive have been collecting unemployment since November while they awaited word about when the mill — a fixture on the Port Angeles waterfront for 67 years which has operated as KPly since May 1989 — would reopen.
Valarie Andersen, union steward at KPly, said the 60-day layoff notice means that the mill still could reopen within those two months but “it doesn’t look good.”
The loss of the jobs will have widespread effects, Port Angeles City Manager Mark Madsen said.
“It’s not just these jobs that are impacted, but other jobs in the community tied to it.
“Each job they lose impacts at least one other job.”
No reason was given for the closure.
The contact person listed in KPly’s letter to Employment Security, Jan Kirschner, said General Manager Tom Crandall was the only one authorized to speak for the company.
A telephone message left Saturday morning at Crandall’s home in Haines, Alaska, was not returned.
