- New details are coming out surrounding Taylor County’s shuttered West Fraser sawmill.
- The lumber company located in Perry, made and shipped wood products across the state and was an economic driver for the town.
- Listen to the audio clip to find out why the sawmill is up for sale and who the county says the potential buyer is.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
West Fraser permanently closed its doors in March of last year, taking 100 jobs with them.
The announcement came after the company said that the cost to make their fiber products was getting a bit too expensive. West Fraser tried to scale back operations a year before by cutting staff and only keeping a small skeleton crew, but they say that didn’t work.
WFSU spoke with Port Saint Joe Republican Representative Jason Shoaf days after the sawmill closed to get his reaction and discuss potential solutions to help Taylor move forward without its #1 job creator.
“It’s so unfortunate," said Shoaf. "I spend a lot of time working with, talking with, [and] brainstorming with local and state officials to take this tragedy and turn it into an opportunity.”
Taylor County is a part of Shoaf’s district. Even before West Fraser left, Shoaf and Tallahassee Republican Senator Corey Simon were looking for ways to boost the local economy.
The county says nearly 700 jobs and $5.5 million in local tax revenue were lost between the sawmill closing and Georgia Pacific pulling its papermill out of Perry in 2023, add that to the fact that Perry at the time was recovering from a Category 4 hurricane and would go on to face two more storms over the next 13 months.
Now, the county’s Director of Economic Development Bob Cate has a plan that he hopes will create local jobs and bring revenue back to the community.
“We have several sites, but this will be premium one because it’s going to be nice and clean," Cate shared with WFSU on Wednesday. "It’s going to leave the warehouse buildings up so there will be warehouses available.”
Cate is hoping a developer, who’s currently under contract with West Fraser, will buy and sell the plant to one of several interested companies that would use the warehouse spaces and land for industrial purposes.
He says the sawmill being within a few miles of major highways and railroads makes the land a promising investment.
“We’re working to bring industry in. This is one of the places that we direct them too," Cate added. "With the rail and the highway frontage and the railroad going right through the property, it’s going to be a well prepared and desired piece of property in Taylor County."
The contract is on the table. However, it’s hard to say if anyone will end up buying the West Fraser mill. It’s been on the market for over a year, and there’s no guarantee that jobs will come from the sale.
It’s also worth mentioning that researchers at the University of Florida found that once the paper mill closed, Florida lost over $8 million in tax revenue.
This all comes as Corey Simon and Senate President Ben Albritton are prioritizing a bill this session that would boost economic development in rural communities like Perry. That bill passed the full Senate, but in the House, lawmakers are adding pieces to the measure that critics say doesn’t exactly benefit rural Florida.