DEMOPOLIS -- Exactly four months after Gulf States Paper Corp. and members of its employee union reached a contract agreement, speculation about the sale of the company's Demopolis mill has spread at a torrid pace.
Earlier this week, word began to rumble through this community that Gulf States has found a buyer for the Demopolis mill and that environmental tests are being performed at the industry in preparation for the sell.
Dan Meissner, spokesman for the Tuscaloosa-based company, offered an exasperated response to the latest round of speculation.
"You know, we've heard these things, it seems like, every year," he said. "Every year or two, this comes back up."
As Meissner put it, the latest news "is just purely rumor."
When asked if the company had plans to sell its Demopolis mill, Meissner responded by calling the talk "rumor." When asked if Gulf States is marketing the Demopolis mill, he again said any news in regard to the mill is "rumor."
Olen Kerby, president of BancTrust and former chairman of the Industrial Relations Board for Demopolis, said he hasn't heard anything specific to the latest news about Gulf States.
"I guess you hear it every couple of years," Kerby said. "Other than that, this is the first I've heard of the latest talk."
While Meissner didn't directly answer whether the Demopolis mill is being marketed, Kerby said the small-town phenomenon of circulating stories may be at the root of the latest rumors.
"That's just the way things work in towns like ours," he said.
Throughout 2004, Gulf States and members of its employee union struggled through a contract negotiation process that finally came to an end on Dec. 2, 2004. One of the barriers between employees and company officials was Gulf State's desire to remove its pension plan and move to something like the popular 401k retirement plans.
During the course of the negotiations, many indicated Gulf States wanted to remove the pensions because that sort of retirement plan, feasibly, could hurt the potential sale of the Demopolis mill.
When the union and Gulf States finally reached a contract agreement, both sides won. Employees at Gulf States now are given the option of keeping the existing pension plan or moving to an "enhanced" 401k plan offered by the company.
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Exactly what is the purpose of this arcticle?? The only thing it is doing is bringing up something that no one has really heard anything about, and then saying that it is just rumor
Hey, Did you guys know that NASA is considering placing one of thier new launch sites on some of Bill Mackey's property on Highway 80?? The construction in supposed to start on mid June. According to Mackey however, these are just rumors.
they have been going around for a couple of months
now. paper must have just heard it and decided to
check up on it. but meissner never said "no" to anything.
They must be getting desparate for news to start bringing out old rumors and passing it off and Big News to sell papers. I think that is a little irresponsible if you ask me.
From what I am hearing, The Demopolis Times is not starting or fueling the rumors. I am hearing that two or more companies are interested in the Gulf States mill because (1) it is an efficient mill (makes money..lots of it), (2) it has a good environmental record, and future, (3) it has a great labor force, and (4) it has a capability for expansion (more jobs for the Demopolis area).
This is an example of how you "backdoor" in a story. The article does nothing to confirm or deny the rumors, but has actually gotten more people speculating something that cannot be confirmed. In this sense, the Times is fueling the rumors.
The fact that companies are interested in buying Gulf States doesn't mean they are selling the plant.
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i know they had a an outside group come in
to do a study on the long range future of
the mill. ever since then there have been
alot of rumors flying around. there is also
supposed to be some kind of an announcement
being made this month. :dunno:
