PORT HURON, Mich. – Dunn Paper, an icon and prominent employer in Port Huron, announced it’s closing its doors for good just shy of its 100th birthday.
Makers of sustainable paper, specialty paper, and private label packaging, the company which has survived near closings and business scrapes in the past, has struggled since last March to weather the economy.
Its slogan, making tomorrow’s papers today, ends after 98 years of service.
“It’s just so sad,” said Susan Horvath. “It’s a piece of Port Huron that isn’t going to be here anymore.”
One hundred employees called the sprawling stretch of Lake Huron shoreline their workplace in a bedroom community where many can walk their children to school and then themselves to work.
But according to James Freed, the chief admin officer, and city manager of Port Huron, job one is re-situating those employees without having to relocate them before the Nov. 18 close date.
“We want to partner with the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County with Michigan Works to make sure that we can make a seamless transition from their jobs at Dunn Paper to new industries,” said Freed. “A lot of employers greatly seek and value the talents and the work ethic that Dunn Paper employees have.”
Dunn Paper has six other locations, including a site in Menominee, Michigan. While the other facilities will remain open, management said through published statements that it has become too difficult to generate positive cash flow.
A source from inside the company said skyrocketing costs of paper pulp and energy moved faster than their ability to adjust their pricing.
In Aug. 2021, Domtar Corp., another large employer with 200 workers, announced it would be closing its Port Huron mill in what could be a sign of the times, but who’s left to make the paper for that sign?
