10 March 2023
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) – Big changes in Hutchinson this week after Sonoco announced it’s closing its paper plant, terminating over 100 jobs. KSN spoke to former employees who are trying to figure out what’s next.
Many of the employees KSN spoke with started working at the paper mill right after high school. They said that things had been “feeling off” recently, but the news has been hard for them to wrap their heads around.
Ty Lehr worked at the paper mill for 17 years, and he said there were always rumors that this could happen, but he was hoping it wouldn’t be any time soon. He said he got a message on Sunday about a mandatory meeting on Monday, unsure of what it would be about.
“I think we kind of had a feeling that this might’ve been it, or they might’ve been like saying they’re gonna shut down for a couple months because we’ve been -they’ve been telling us that they’ve been having a lack of business for some time, but it’s the paper industry, people are always buying stuff,” said Lehr.
Several employees KSN talked to said Sonoco corporate told them in a meeting that the company’s larger mills are operating at a higher capacity and the market has changed, so the mill in Hutchinson is no longer needed.
Employees say they are getting 60 days of pay because of the worker adjustment and retraining notification act.
The union board spent Wednesday and Thursday fighting for pensions for themselves and their coworkers. They say they wanted to make sure people get what they deserve after their jobs came to an end with no warning.
The employees say this news came as a huge shock Monday.
“We was hoping for a furlow. We wasn’t expecting the mill to shut down that day,” said Union Officer Rex Belote.
Many employees tell me they are frustrated with how it all went down – without any preparation.
“When you work there like I did for 35 years, and they come in and just cut it off like that, no warning at all,” said Kelly McLane.
They say corporate Sonoco told the employees the Hutchinson mill is no longer needed.
“They didn’t really have much to say other than stuff has. They moved most of our orders to other locations. they really didn’t have much to say. They kept on saying it wasn’t our fault, there’s nothing we could have done to even save it.” said Belote.
Lehr says there have always been rumors about this happening – but that chatter never came to anything.
“Over the years, there’s always been rumors. ‘Cause we’re a small mill, and we’re kind of away from Sonoco’s, you know, other facilities, you know. We’re old. It’s an old plant,” said Lehr.
Belote says he’s thankful for all the community help, and his hope right now is that everyone finds a new job.
KSN has reached out to Sonoco corporate multiple times over the last four days but hasn’t gotten a response.
We have reached out to Sonoco corporate multiple times but haven’t heard back.
Different organizations in the community have been creating resources for job seekers. You can find links to those resources below:
Employment resources:
Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce