Officials: 'There are Interested Parties' in the Spring Mill

The Roaring Spring Borough Council held its regular monthly meeting Monday night at the Friendship Fire Company Hall to ensure enough room for social distancing in anticipation of a larger-than-usual crowd.

Council devoted the first hour of its meeting to the closing of the Appvion’s Spring Mill plant and plans for moving forward.

Council President Rodney Green told the handful of former Spring Mill employees in attendance that council wanted to bring community leaders together in one place to hear what they have to say about plans for the now idle plant and options for displaced workers.

“We think all of our meetings are important to the public, but tonight we have some information sharing, and we want to gather Information on the future of the borough,” President Green said.

Steve McKnight, president and CEO of the Altoona Blair County Development Corp., said that he was as “blindsided” by the announced closing as everyone else was and only found out when contacted by the news media for comment.

“When Feb. 15 hit, we were informed [of the closing] just like everyone else was,” he said. “I was actually informed through a media outreach. I’m not proud of that because we should have been given advanced notice and try to manage it the best we can.”

McKnight said that the ABCD Corp. had a strong and ongoing dialog with Appvion, so the sudden news of its closure was a “shock.”

McKnight said the number-one priority is workforce placement and rapid response relative to the labor force. He gave credit to local elected officials for ensuring that all resources were immediately available to the displaced workers.

McKnight said the second priority is the plant itself.

“The next phase of this is obviously the facility,” he said. “It’s a very special, unique facility that produces one product and it was designed to do that for many years.”

McKnight said the ideal outcome would be for the plant to be purchased and operated in manner similar to what it was built for.

While he couldn’t offer specifics or name any potential buyers, McKnight said there has been interest in the plant.

“There are interested parties out there,” he said. “They are visiting the site and doing their due diligence in collecting information. It is a complicated operation out there. There is a lot of information they are trying to collect from Appvion and compare that information to their own database so they can understand what is happening with the plant.”

McKnight said the ABCD Corp. is “at the ready” to assist a buyer and have begun talks with the governor’s action team to streamline the permit process.

“A permitting process can take 12 months, we are going to try our best to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.

Officials offer help

State Rep. Jim Gregory said that he is working on getting a commitment from Gov. Tom Wolf on helping potential buyer with permitting. Rep. Gregory said he met with Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf five weeks ago and that the governor is familiar with the Spring Mill plant, having toured it in 2016.

Gregory said that he wanted to impress upon the governor the reality of what had happened and how he could help in the future.

“I said, I just want you to know that in Pennsylvania, we are losing 300 really good jobs.” Gregory said. “I need your help when the time comes for permitting purposes, I need you to step in and make sure we have a smooth transition if and when that time comes.”

Plant closing update

Spring Mill Union President Mitch Becker said there are about 30 employees left at Spring Mill but their last day is April 15.

Becker said the workers have about 80 percent of the chemical tanks drained but there will still be a large amount of chemicals remaining after the last of the employees leave.

Appvion officials previously announced they will finish closing the plant by outsourcing the remaining work.

“I don’t agree with their plan,” Becker said. “My plan would be to have our employees do that work, but the company is having someone else come in and do that work.”

‘Been there’

Councilmember Kevin Snowberger said he was once in the same situation as the Spring Mill employees. Snowberger worked at SKF in Altoona for 10 years and when it closed, he lost a good-paying job, but also saw it as an opportunity to make a positive change in his life.

“As a resident here in town, there is nothing I would like more than to see those clouds of smoke coming out of that building or to hear the noise that the factory makes,” he said. “I was involved in a plant closing myself 15 years ago and I thought it was the end of the world, a really empty feeling in my stomach. But I had the opportunity to go back to school and all I can say is if you have that opportunity take the time, put forth the effort.”

Snowberger said after he lost his job, he went to nursing school and became a registered nurse.

“That has opened so many doors for me personally and professionally,” he said. “While I would love to see that plant open, if you have that opportunity, it is not the end of the world. Keep your head up, put in the work and something will happen. Take advantage of the opportunity.”

Council President Green said that the Spring Mill plant had an annual payroll of around $35 million and that the loss of those jobs will have an economic effect, but he has faith that the community will pull through.

“Roaring Spring is strong, and we are going to continue to be strong,” he said. “We are going to move forward.”