CHILLICOTHE, Ohio—Judy Sowers is the matriarch of a family that has seen generations work at “the Mead,” which is what many locals call the paper mill in Chillicothe.

On May 8, Sowers, two of her daughters, her brother, and her son-in-law gathered around a kitchen table in a house across the street from the mill and its red-and-white-striped tower.

They discussed a topic that is on the minds of residents, business owners, and local officials in this community of 21,895 people in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio.

Pixelle Specialty Solutions—and its parent, private equity firm H.I.G. Capital—announced on April 15 that it would be shutting down its paper mill in Chillicothe.

The company said the closure was necessary as part of its effort to “align its operation footprint with long-term business objectives.”

Jobs are on the line for about 830 workers. The company originally intended to shut down the mill in phases over the weeks that followed the announcement.

The decision was delayed after freshman Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) secured a commitment from H.I.G. Capital, which bought the mill in 2022, to pause the facility’s closure until the end of 2025.

Chillicothe is known as the “Paper City.” The mill opened in 1812.

Sowers’s grandparents worked at the Mead. So did John Angus Sr., Sowers’s father. Several other family members have spent their careers at the mill.

“If you didn’t work there, you had family work there, or you knew someone who worked there,“ Sowers, 74, said. ”Kids grow up hearing stories from generations of family members about working at the mill.”

John Angus Jr., Sowers’s brother, recalled his 42-year career that stretched from his early 20s to retirement age.

“It took me five years to get on there after I graduated from high school,“ John Angus Jr. told The Epoch Times. ”At the time, it was a job many people wanted to have if they wanted to stay here.

“I worked shift work for almost 43 years, so I missed a lot of stuff with the family, but it put bread and butter on the table. It would be a shame to see it close.”

Chillicothe became the first capital of the Northwest Territory in 1800 and Ohio’s first capital in 1803.

Chillicothe’s downtown has been revitalized over the past decade and serves as the centerpiece of the city, featuring an ambience reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Restaurants, antique shops, coffeehouses, taverns, and Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop occupy historic buildings whose architecture reflects a bygone era.

With its downtown and attractions such as the amphitheater, where an outdoor drama about Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh still plays every summer, Chillicothe draws outside visitors.

Most of the businesses rely on local traffic, though, provided by major employers such as Adena Regional Medical Center, two state prisons, a Veterans Affairs Medical Center, a Kenworth semi-truck manufacturing plant, and the mill.

Trent Fannin and his wife opened Rost Coffee in downtown Chillicothe in 2016. The shop buzzes with traffic from mill workers, employees from downtown businesses, and high school and college students.

“Downtown Chillicothe has a lively pulse that downtowns in most towns across southern Ohio don’t have,“ Fannin said. ”It’s a destination, and hopefully, we don’t find out the impact of losing the mill. We’re concerned, but hopeful.”

Residents and local and state legislators are hopeful that Pixelle will find a way to keep the mill open or sell it to a company dedicated to making a long-term commitment to Chillicothe.

It was purchased by Col. Daniel Mead of Dayton, Ohio, about 75 miles northwest of Chillicothe, in 1890. The Mead was one of the largest paper manufacturers in the country for more than 100 years.

In 2002, the Mead merged with Westvaco in a $3 billion stock transaction.

The headquarters of MeadWestvaco was relocated from Dayton to Connecticut, and then to Richmond, Virginia.

After learning about the plan to shutter the mill, Moreno wrote a letter to H.I.G. Capital CEO Sami Mnaymneh, charging the executive with “selfish business decisions and corporate greed.”

“[The firm’s business model is] to suck the proverbial blood out of companies it acquires until the companies declare bankruptcy, leaving the employees and communities it decimates behind,” Moreno said, pointing to the outcomes of some of the other transactions the private equity firm has made.

The Epoch Times contacted H.I.G. Capital for comment, but the company did not reply.

Moreno spoke with Mnaymneh, and on April 18, wrote on social media platform X, “They have agreed to PAUSE the closure of the Chillicothe paper mill until the end of the year.”

That day, Moreno joined Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine at a news conference at the mill to discuss their next steps.

Moreno told residents, local public officials, and business owners in the crowd that the pause extends through 2025, but there is no guarantee beyond that.

“All options are on the table,” Moreno said. “A thousand people losing their jobs in Chillicothe is like 15,000 people losing their jobs in Columbus. That’ll be devastating to that community. We can’t allow that to happen.”

“While the future is still being determined, this pause represents a meaningful opportunity to evaluate long-term solutions for the facility and its workforce,” Bushnell wrote.

“We will remain transparent throughout this process and will continue to share updates with our employees, customers, and community as next steps are defined.”

The Ross County Board of Commissioners has created the Paper Mill Response Team, which has held multiple meetings since the mill closure was announced.

There is hope that another paper manufacturer will be interested in buying the mill, or that a company in another industry will purchase the mill and repurpose it.

There is concern that Pixelle might lay off workers before the planned closure at the end of 2025, Ross County Commissioner David Glass told The Epoch Times.

Local groups are marketing the mill site to potential new investments in collaboration with Jobs Ohio, the state’s economic development arm, Glass said.

Local and regional partners, including Ross County’s economic development agency, are also involved.

“At the same time, we’re determining how we’re going to absorb the economic impact of this paper mill closing, and doing everything we can to market it to another user, either in the paper industry or another manufacturer that could utilize the site and the people,” Glass said.

There was a time when the mill employed more than 3,000 people, but over several decades, that number has significantly declined.

“Still, 830 jobs is a big number for a community like ours, and the economic impact is very significant when we start to add in all of those other supply chains and adjacent industries that would be impacted by the closure,” Glass said.

“For example, there’s an entire logging and trucking industry built around the mill that includes Ross County and several other counties in southeastern Ohio.”

Retaining a paper manufacturer would be best for the people who work there now because the mill is designed for that, and people who work there have spent their careers doing that work, Glass said.

“But if it doesn’t stay a paper mill—if there is investment from another industry—that will be a positive,“ he said. ”Regardless, we want a company that will make a long-term commitment to Chillicothe and provide jobs that allow families to stay here.”

Sowers’s youngest daughter, Autumn Davis, is married to Jeff Davis, who worked at the mill for several years before leaving for a position at Adena Regional Medical Center.

“It helped to have family connections there,“ Jeff Davis, whose father worked there, said. ”That’s a reason why many families have several generations who have worked at the mill.”

Sowers said that, decades ago, the Mead not only was a staple for Chillicothe, but also attracted employees from miles away in neighboring counties because “it provided a good living” and “there weren’t many bigger employers back then.”

Autumn Davis said the mill is ingrained in Chillicothe culture.

“When you’re coming home from being out of town, first thing you see is the white-and-red smoke stack, and you know that you’re close to Chillicothe,” she said.

Jeff Davis said: “And the smell. There’s always been a smell from that mill that lets you know you’re in Chillicothe.”

Sowers and John Angus Jr. nodded and grinned.

Sowers and her family have fond memories of when Mead owned the mill. They remember company holiday picnics that families attended every year and a company that was invested in Chillicothe.

The family-oriented approach vanished with subsequent owners, John Angus Jr. and Jeff Davis said, but the mill was still “a good place to have a job that provided for your family.”

Like many Chillicothe residents, Sowers and her family expressed concern about what will happen if the mill closes and the facility is shuttered.

“Many people won’t be able to find another job making the same type of money, and with less money, that means less business for everyone else here,” Jeff Davis said.

The stories shared by Sowers and her family resonate with Ross County Auditor Jeff Lehner, who has lived in the area since 2011 and took office in 2023.

He said the mill’s closure would leave a “gaping hole” in the local economy and income tax base.

At the April 18 news conference, Lehner said, he saw a man in his 50s who is approaching his retirement and a man in his early 30s who is raising his family. Both were his customers when he was an insurance agent.

“What happens to those workers if that place goes under?“ Lehner asked. ”Will they be able to find something comparable in the private sector? I’m not sure.”

Jeff Davis said he believes that even with other larger employers in the area—including his workplace, the Adena Regional Medical Center—Chillicothe will suffer if the mill closes and there is no company to take its place.

“There will be a lot of houses for sale, and since people will either move out of town or stay here and work out of town, the small businesses would struggle, if not close,“ he said. ”We don’t want to see that happen here.”

Sowers has lived in the area most of her life and is proud of her Appalachian roots, a feeling that many locals share.

“It’s the Appalachian way for families to stay together and live not far from each other,“ she said. ”Places like the Mead allow generations of families to have good jobs for as long as they want them, and allow their children to grow up in a place with rural values.”

Autumn Davis agreed. She said she and her husband have contemplated moving to a larger city at times, but they would miss seeing their grandchildren grow up and the appeal of a simpler life in the Appalachian foothills.

“When Jeff and I got together, I had three kids,“ she said. ”He had three kids. We made a life together. We were able to save for our home together because of his job and my job [in the health care field]. That’s what the mill helped us do.”