Our View: Helping mill historically a smart move

The effort continued even as the Duluth Air Base closed; Jeno's food-processing operations bolted for another state; and Clyde Iron, National Iron, and others shut down or cut back. Thousands of jobs were lost, families fled, and the infamous billboard went up on Thompson Hill urging the last one to leave Duluth to please turn out the lights. A Twin Cities newspaper even declared, with a giant headline, that Duluth was a "dying city."

But we wouldn't have it. Our community leaders refused to accept such a declaration, and they saw a new paper mill in West Duluth for what it became: a key part of Duluth's economic revival. The mill meant new industry, new jobs, and renewed hope.

The mill remains a critical employer in Duluth today, and public help to ensure its continued success is as much a no-brainer now as it was in 1987 when the mill finally first opened.

The Duluth City Council this week became part of all that positive history when it voted unanimously to seek a $1 million forgivable loan from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. The loan — and, perhaps, just as important, the city's commitment and support — is seen as critical in plans by the mill's owner, Verso Corp., to invest about $21 million in Duluth to upgrade the plant.

The upgrade would ensure the mill remains competitive globally — and that it avoids "permanent closure," as Mill Manager John Bastian stated could happen otherwise in a letter he wrote to Duluth Mayor Emily Larson. This moment is that big.

The deal also includes a $1 million, seven-year loan at zero-percent interest from DEED's Agriculture and Economic Development Board; $242,000 from the city's Grants and Awards Fund; and a $100,000 forgivable loan from the city's 1200 Fund.

The $1 million loan councilors voted this week to seek would be forgiven if the papermaker maintains the equivalent at least 150 full-time jobs for the next five years, according to Heather Rand, Duluth's business development director. About 240 employees work at the mill currently, earning an average of about $63,000 a year, plus benefits.

In the 2004 book, "The Will and the Way," Jack LaVoy, an economic development director for the city and for the port authority from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, wrote about "the community spirit that burst forth" when it became clear the paper mill would reach fruition. He wrote that there was "an overall sense of community pride that Duluth could give birth to such a well-respected, world-class facility."

The commitment to that facility remains today and continued this week, helping to ensure that a later Twin Cities newspaper headline — "Duluth: The city that refused to die" — is the one that remains accurate.