It has been, in large ways and small, one of the greatest influences on life in Natchez and Adams County for more than 50 years.

The International Paper mill, built in 1950 on a field south of town, has given the community not only a wealth of good-paying jobs but a tradition among its workers of paying back their hometown.

&uot;I don’t know that there are adequate words to describe the impact,&uot; said Natchez Mayor F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith.

He was referring to the economic impact &045; the jobs, the tax revenue, the money simply spent by workers in their daily lives &045; but he acknowledged the impact is far greater than money.

&uot;The list just goes on an on,&uot; he said.

&uot;Included in that is contributions to charities, to United Way, not just from the employees but from the company.&uot;

And Smith remembers the small things, too &045; how his family loaded up in the car at Christmas to view the holiday display International Paper always set up on the grounds.

&uot;They are many and they are varied,&uot; he said of the effects this mill has had on this corner of Mississippi.

The most tangible impact, of course, is financial. When its parent company announced the mill’s closure in January, 640 people stood to lose their jobs. That number has dwindled to around 400 as of last week, when production had ceased and the cleanup and cleaning out began.

&uot;It is the direct jobs,&uot; Smith said. &uot;But it’s so much more than the direct jobs &045; it’s all of the ancillary jobs, the downturn for vendors Š the contractors that have been used from time to time.&uot;

Because the mill is outside city limits, Natchez itself won’t lose any ad valorem tax revenue. But Adams County stands to lose about $700,000 if the mill completely shuts down, said supervisors President Lynwood Easterling.

The Natchez-Adams School District’s loss is even greater &045; around $1.4 million.

Easterling knows firsthand the impact the mill has had. Were it not for IP, he would never have moved to Natchez.

Easterling’s father helped build the mill, then worked there until his retirement.

&uot;It’s affected families tremendously,&uot; Easterling said, noting that many of his own relatives still work at the mill. &uot;Everybody in this region is touched by someone who works at the mill.&uot;

Tradition of volunteerism

Nancy Hungerford and the young residents at the Natchez Children’s Home are among those who have been touched by those employees.

&uot;There are about four significant areas I can think of off the top of my head where we will be crying at the curb when they leave,&uot; she said.

IP has helped the children’s home in a variety of ways &045; from the IP Foundation, a corporate entity which has helped fund nonprofits, to the hands-on work by mill employees, to the Christmas contributions from workers passing the hat.

&uot;We just feel like a part of our heart is going to be cut out,&uot; Hungerford said.

Former public relations director Lillie DeShields also knows about the heart of the Natchez mill. To her, the financial impact of the mill is not as great as the impact of the people who worked there.

&uot;I don’t mean to trivialize losing jobs, but to lose people &045; to me that’s the greater loss,&uot; she said.

When DeShields came on board at IP, she found a network of volunteers who were spread out throughout the community &045; working without recognition. It was her job to get their story out to the public.

&uot;To me, they were all unsung heroes and ‘sheroes,’&uot; said DeShields, who takes no credit for the work they did but simply wanted it publicized.

&uot;Employees were very dedicated,&uot; she said. &uot;It was already there. There was not a lot of notice there about how they were doing it.&uot;

Team VIP soon became an organized network of mill representatives &045; workers from all areas of the mill &045; who continued their volunteer work throughout the community.

&uot;Whatever was needed or asked, Team VIP was there,&uot; DeShields said.

Hope for the future

Although Hungerford knows she is &uot;out of the loop&uot; as far as what is happening with efforts to keep the mill open, the employees, she said, &uot;have my vote.&uot;

&uot;They’ve got my vote because of their track record,&uot; she said. &uot;I’m an optimist &045; I would love to see something redemptive, whatever transformation needs to happen.&uot;

&uot;Most folks take it for granted, the willingness to take on those projects,&uot; Smith said of the work IP employees did for the community behind the scenes.

Easterling, who grew up in IP’s shadow, can’t imagine Natchez without the mill.

Smith can &045; but he doesn’t want to.

&uot;We can’t be unrealistic and not feel the effects of it,&uot; he said. &uot;Is this something we’re going to survive? Yes. Is it going to take some time? Yes.&uot;

The sadness that accompanies this week’s closure by IP is tempered by hope &045; so many of the mill’s employees and so many local officials are working to ensure that someone else can take over the mill once IP leaves.

&uot;We’re working as hard as we can,&uot; Easterling said.

&uot;I rode by and looked at it today,&uot; he said Friday. &uot;There’s a lot of cars, but no smoke, no steam.

&uot;I don’t look at it as a sad thing &045; because now we have this opportunity. Will it ever be an amazing story.&uot;