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Today’s (October 22) announcement that International Paper will be closing its local mill is a sobering reminder of the state of the international economy and its relationship to what happens in Albany.  The closure is also, I’m sure, a devastating blow to the families directly affected by the job losses.

Cathy Ingalls from the Democrat-Herald sent me an e-mail this morning asking how the closure would affect Albany city government.  I responded with the following message:

“The closure almost certainly will have an effect on the local housing market which could further depress new home and, possibly, commercial construction.  Declining construction activity directly affects our Community Development Department.  Albany city government receives no direct revenue from IP, but if Albany businesses that are suppliers to IP close, we could lose revenue as a result.

I think the greatest effect on us is the knowledge that more than 230 families in our area will be hurt by the closure.  Our job is to serve people by trying to make the community a better place.  Losing some of the community’s best paying jobs is a serious blow to that effort.”

I have already learned that my first impression of the effects on Albany was wrong.  Fire Chief John Bradner reminded me that we have a contract with the Albany Rural Fire District, which is directly affected by this closure.  The City could lose several hundred thousand dollars, depending on what happens with the assessed value of the property.  Public Works Director Diane Taniguchi-Dennis informed me that another business in Millersburg was dependent on International Paper for sewer service, and they will now need to work directly with us.  Service to industry can be complicated if their waste contains materials that are difficult to treat.

Mill closures are not new to Oregon, and I saw the effects of a particularly hard one when I served as the city administrator in Oakridge.  The most important lesson I learned from that event, more than 20 years ago, was the need to show the world that the community is a resilient place.  Bad things happen to everyone and every place at some point in time.  The challenge is to recover from the blow and begin work on shaping the future.  As the plant in Millersburg closes, a major new industrial facility is planned for construction at Oregon Freeze Dry in Albany and a medical school is being built in Lebanon.

Shortly after I received the call from Mayor Konopa about the mill closure, I was asked by my professional association to do some volunteer work in a remote area of Ethiopia for a few weeks in December.  The assignment is to help a community of nearly 100,000 people come up with a plan for dealing with solid waste (garbage).  The local government currently does limited collection and then dumps the refuse in a dry creek bed in the nearby desert.

Our starting point is so high relative to most of the world that what to us looks like a catastrophe would be a normal day in many places.  The misery of others is small consolation in troubled times, but it should serve as a reminder that our greatest blessing is our ability to face challenges with the sure knowledge we can overcome them.