Georgia-Pacific will be laying off at least 650 workers in March from its Port Hudson paper facility, in a major blow to the North Baton Rouge economy. Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow says it’s a huge loss, and a drastic shock to a community that relied on those union jobs to provide a good quality of life. 

Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome says the city will activate a Rapid Response employment program to help displaced workers find new employment.

Barrow says with more and more people going digital, and sending correspondence through email and text, the need for traditional paper that the facility specialized in has diminished.

“Certainly it is a shock, and hearing the reason why I can understand it, as it relates to the lack of need and demand for paper products, copy paper, white paper.”

Barrow says the closure should reemphasize the need for additional resources being allocated to programs that help prepare workers for the new, digital economy.

“I believe that we need to be making sure that we are preparing our young people to be able to take on those digital electronic jobs so that when those positions become available, they are in a position to take them.”