WestRock closing Fridley facility, laying off 70 employees

Packaging firm WestRock Co. is permanently closing its facility in Fridley that will result in 70 employees being laid off at the plant.

The global company runs four Twin Cities plants and has laid off about 200 employees at them over the last year. It also runs a plant in St. Cloud.

The company disclosed its plans in Fridley in a letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Layoffs will start Nov. 13.

Some of the Fridley employees are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 970.

WestRock's letter does not state a specific reason for the closure.

In October, WestRock announced plans to close the corrugated manufacturing operations in St. Paul, which led to 130 layoffs. The company continued making coated recycled board at the St. Paul facility.

WestRock also has facilities in Minneapolis, Maple Grove and St. Cloud.

On Wednesday a West Rock representative could not be reached immediately for comment.

The company has laid off about 900 employees nationally in two large closures this year.

At the beginning of August, WestRock announced plans to close a paper mill in Tacoma, Wash., resulting in 400 layoffs.

"WestRock is working to optimize our operational footprint and consolidate production in order to improve our return on invested capital," said David Sewell, CEO of WestRock, in a statement about the Washington shutdown.

In May, WestRock announced the closure of a paper mill in North Charleston, S.C., prompting 500 layoffs.

Georgia-based WestRock is a publicly traded company with about 50,000 employees globally. It is the largest packaging and containers company on the Fortune 500.