25 Workers Laid Off at Rosboro Lumber Company in Springfield

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Dozens of people are temporarily losing their jobs at a Springfield mill as Rosboro Lumber Company is shutting down one of their facilities temporarily.

The large-scale lumber mill on Main Street doesn't go unnoticed in the the central section of Springfield. But now, there is going to be a two year change-up with one of their facilities.

 The company's Senior Vice President Brian Wells confirmed that the layoffs were occurring because of the high cost of harvesting timber in Oregon. In a statement, Wells said the rising costs of timber is at play in the decision.

“Recently implemented regulations restricting timber harvest activities in Oregon have caused material harm to the competitiveness of much of our state's wood products manufacturing segment, and 25 of our employees and their families will unfortunately suffer for it,” Wells said. “Following the curtailment, the company will have a total of 295 employees located in Springfield."

The closure will be in its "Commodity Stud Lumber" mill and is expected to last for two years while the company invests into their facilities. KEZI 9 News was able to get in contact with a few of those laid off workers, who said they didn't want to speak on camera out of fear it could hurt their possible rehiring prospects.

 Neighbors who live near the mill said they feel for the workers who are being laid off.

In addition, some of the neighbors questioned the reasoning behind the job losses. One said that although the number of furloughed workers may appear small, it is the other people impacted that can't get overlooked.

 Courtesy: www.kezi.com