News release unedited

The Port Townsend Paper Family of Companies and its Crown Packaging division are announcing intention to wind down production at the Kelowna corrugated box manufacturing facility, located on Enterprise Way, by year’s end. The change is anticipated to affect approximately 50 local employees.

The facility’s largest customer, Owens-Illinois in Lavington, closed its doors in October of 2008. Having lost 35% of the facility’s sales, the Company cut costs in every way it could, including staffing reductions, in an attempt to keep the facility financially viable and see what 2009 would bring for the Western Canadian box market. Unfortunately, the market continued its four-year-long contraction in 2009 as box customers struggled with rising costs for energy and raw materials, the strength of the Canadian dollar affecting exports, expensive labour and an economic downturn.

“The Western Canadian box market is as tough as we’ve ever seen it” says Joe Beers, President of the firm’s packaging divisions. “Unfortunately, the impacts aren’t only in the Okanagan, and we’re also announcing the winding down of production at our Calgary facility”.

Key production machines are being transferred to Crown Packaging’s flagship manufacturing facility in Richmond, BC and its Boxmaster division in Burnaby BC.

“We’ve invested several million dollars in improvements at Richmond over the past few years which will provide the ability to effectively service our customers with quality products in all our markets” says Beers. “Effectively servicing our customers has always been our #1 focus, and this change will not impact that at all.” Crown Packaging will retain a sales and customer service office along with a distribution warehouse in Kelowna. In addition, the Company is investing over $2 million more in projects to ensure timely deliveries of products from its machines to all of its markets.

The Port Townsend Paper Family of Companies employs approximately 660 people and annually produces more than 320,000 tons of unbleached Kraft pulp, paper and linerboard at its mill in Port Townsend, Wash. The company manufactures approximately 1.3 billion sq. ft. of corrugated products annually at its Crown Packaging plant and BoxMaster plant.