Business briefs: Clearwater Paper closing N.Y. facility
Clearwater Paper Corp. will close its Long Island, N.Y., tissue converting and distribution facility, officials said Monday.
Spokane-based Clearwater said it will consolidate operations at other lower-cost tissue facilities. The company is a major supplier of private label tissue.
The closure will affect about 155 workers, who will receive severance pay, career counseling and the opportunity to apply for jobs at other locations. Costs related to the closure will be in the $12 million to $15 million range over the next two years, company officials said. However, Clearwater expects to save about $12 million annually in operating costs after the closure.
Richard Cabela, 77, chain co-founder, dies
OMAHA, Neb. – Richard Cabela, a co-founder of outdoor outfitter Cabela’s, died Monday at his home in Sidney, Neb. He was 77.
The company that sells outdoor gear and sporting goods got its start humbly in 1961 when Cabela, who went by Dick, bought $45 of fishing flies in Chicago. When the flies didn’t sell quickly at the family’s furniture store in Chappell, Neb., Cabela started selling them through the mail with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim.
The company has 50 retail stores across the U.S. and Canada. Last year, it had $3.6 billion in revenue.
Study says U.S. tourism campaign netted $3.4B
LOS ANGELES – The nation’s first coordinated campaign to promote the United States to international travelers generated $3.4 billion in additional spending last year, according to a study commissioned by the campaign.
Brand USA launched in 2012 with billboards, newspaper and magazine ads, radio spots and an anthem by singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash.
The campaign targeted tourists from Brazil, Japan, Australia, Germany, Britain, Mexico, Canada and South Korea. It was funded by donations and a $14 fee charged to each international visitor who registered for a visa to enter the United States.
Intellectually disabled still face job, pay bias
WASHINGTON – Most Americans with intellectual or developmental disabilities remain shut out of the workforce, despite changing attitudes and billions of dollars spent on government programs to help them.
Even when they find work, it’s often part-time, in a dead-end job or for pay below minimum wage.
A recent survey finds only 44 percent of intellectually disabled adults are in the labor force, while just 34 percent actually are working. That compares with 83 percent of nondisabled, working-age adults in the workforce.
The survey commissioned by Special Olympics finds 28 percent of working-age adults with intellectual disabilities have never held a job.
Alcoa shuttering mills, smelter in Australia
NEW YORK – Alcoa Inc. said Monday that it will close an aluminum smelter and two mills in Australia by the end of the year.
The company said it has been studying options for a 50-year-old smelter in Geelong, Victoria, for two years and will close it in August. The smelter has about 500 workers.
A rolling mill near the smelter and another mill and recycling center in Yennora, New South Wales, will close by year end. They employ an additional 480 people.
Faced with stubbornly low prices for aluminum due to global overcapacity, Alcoa has been idling and closing smelters to reduce capacity. When the last moves are completed, Alcoa will have cut its smelting capacity by 17 percent.