Major plant will close in Austell on Dec. 17
The National Envelope Corp. South plant will close in Austell on Dec. 17 and move to Smyrna due to bankruptcy of its parent company.
Austell Mayor Joe Jerkins gave a letter he received to the AJC that was dated Oct. 18, verifying this closure by NEC's Thomas A. Cristelli, executive vice-president of Operations.
Jerkins said around 225 people are employed at the Austell facility. He said he was told maybe 60 would be retained to work in Smyrna instead.
An employee in the Austell office, who declined to be identified, said an undisclosed number will lose their jobs since the Smyrna facility at 1325 Highland Ridge Parkway is not as large as the one in Austell at 2989 Humphries Hill Road.
Also declining to be identified, a Human Resources official at the Smyrna plant said the Austell plant "has been given notification" of its closure. He declined to discuss any other details.
NEC filed for bankruptcy on June 10, according to the company's website at www.nationalenvelope.com.
On Aug. 23, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the acquisition of NEC's assets by The Gores Group, LLC, of Los Angeles.
Founded in 1987 by Alec E. Gores, the Gores investment firm will help NEC become more profitable through restructuring, according to www.gores.com.
Based in Frisco, Texas, NEC is the largest manufacturer of envelopes in the world, producing 37 billion envelopes annually, according to www.nationalenvelope.com.
NEC is an official envelope converter for every major North American paper mill in the $3.7 billion North American envelope industry, generating revenues of around $600 million, the website said.
The company has 14 manufacturing facilities and two distribution centers. Founded in 1952, NEC employs more than 3000 employees in the U.S. and Canada.
