Unclear if Pandemic Stimulus Funding Will Help the State's Timber Industry

Wednesday, October 27th, 2021 -- 10:01 AM

(Raymond Neupert, WRN) -It's unclear if a fresh influx of pandemic stimulus funding will be enough to help shore up Wisconsin's timber industry.

Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association director Henry Schienebeck tells WXPR in Rhinelander that business has left Wisconsin due to mill closures and production downturns. "If you can't deliver your product of course you can't get paid, and if you don't get paid, it's hard to pick that volume back up once it's lost."

Schienebeck said that mill closures have meant people have just left the timber industry all together. "They've gone into construction, they've just transitioned into other types of occupations."

The 200 million dollar package is the first for the timber industry, and it likely won't be the last, says Shienebeck.

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