Atlanta, Georgia based Georgia-Pacific is closing its box factory in the Macoupin County community of Mt. Olive, a move that will impact about 135 employees in a town of roughly 2,200 people located about 47 minutes northeast of St. Louis.
“It really was just a gut punch to the town,” said Mt. Olive resident John Knowles. Knowles has a personal connection to the plant’s history. His father-in-law was mayor in the mid-1970s when Georgia-Pacific first came to Mt. Olive. “The first person I called was him,” Knowles said. “And I said, ‘Well, the business you brought to town is now leaving town,’ so it’s really sad.”
The facility manufactures corrugated boxes — a product many associate with booming demand in recent years due to online shopping and shipping. But Georgia-Pacific says changing market conditions led to the decision.
Lauren Campen, a spokesperson for Georgia-Pacific, said the surge in box demand during the COVID-19 pandemic played a key role in what’s happening now.
“What happened was during COVID, box companies and manufacturers saw a surge because big box stores like your Targets, your Walmarts, your Amazons needed to fill their shelves quickly and replenish quickly,” Campen said. “So they overstocked.”
Now, that demand has fallen.
“Stores have started destocking, and they still haven’t reached their pre-COVID levels of their stock for box supplies,” she said.
Georgia-Pacific plans to move equipment from the Mt. Olive plant to other locations and sell the building. The company has not yet announced what assistance, if any, will be offered to displaced workers.
For residents, the closure represents more than lost jobs — it’s the loss of a key piece of the town’s identity and economy.
“As for what’s next for the town,” Knowles said, “it’s going to be tough.”
