Packaging
Corp. of America’s announcement Monday that it plans to buy struggling Boise
Inc. in a cash deal worth nearly $2 billion has raised concerns about the fate
of Boise’s paper plant in International Falls.
Illinois-based
PCA is best known for making boxboard and corrugated packaging products, while
the smaller Boise makes copier paper, liner board and corrugated packaging
products. But copier paper is the primary product for Boise’s International
Falls plant, putting it at increased risk for cutbacks. In May, the factory
announced that it was reducing staff as electronic correspondence such as
e-mail and text messages clipped demand for paper.
“The
question is whether Packaging Corporation of America wants the copy-paper
portion of [Boise’s] business,” said Wayne Gjerde, recycling market development
manager for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “I am really concerned that
we maintain our container board and paper capacity here. That [provides] a lot
of our jobs.”
