Camden urged to aid displaced employees

CAMDEN — A former Camden City Council member alderman has approached the council about helping displaced workers from the recently announced Georgia-Pacific layoffs in Crossett and Hope.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, during audience participation, Danny Glaze, local business owner and former City Council member, said that Camden was in a unique position to help the cities of Crossett and Hope since the city of Camden went through a similar situation with the closure of the International Paper mill in the early 2000s.

“The unfortunate news of the [Georgia-Pacific] mill closing in Crossett and Hope has provided a huge economic opportunity for the City of Camden, if we move forward quickly and with the proper resolve,” he said addressing the council and other governing boards in Ouachita County.

Glaze said that the large number of employees now out of work would make a perfect fit for the industries at Highland Industrial Park, which is always searching for a workforce.

He suggested a group be formed with members of industry and religious organizations to reach out to the those affected by the closure and said they should be invited to join the community of Camden if they find themselves displaced.

Mayor Julian Lott said that there had been some discussion already, but he welcomed Glaze to join the efforts in communicating with Hope and Crossett.

Lott also said that many of the workers who held management positions at the mill would be a good fit for management positions at Highland Industrial Park.

Later, Reese Broadnax approached the board and said that Governor Asa Hutchinson’s Dislocated Worker Taskforce had the names of every individual who was affected by the layoff.