Hundreds of employees have been waiting to see if they can return to work at Appleton Coated, a paper mill company.
Outagamie County executive Tom Nelson said Wednesday that closing the company's doors would be catastrophic.
"This has been the life blood." said Nelson. "This has been an economic backbone of Fox Valley jobs in the economy, so it’s very important that we do everything we can to get the mill running and save those jobs."
He said the company has been open more than 100 years, providing people in the county with good-paying jobs.
Nelson said last week a county judge requested a plan to keep Appleton Coated open for workers. It is now past the deadline for a deal.
The Bay Area Workforce Development Board said they're helping those workers affected by the layoffs.
"We spend a tremendous amount of time ensuring they're well prepared to market themselves in a way to bring the results they want," said Program Operations Manager Matt Valiquette.
He said they have interviewing and training sessions for Appleton Coated employees.
We called the Outagamie County courthouse late Wednesday afternoon. The judge's assistants tells us a plan to keep the mill open has not been finalized.
