Ohio Packaging Plant to Close; 91 Workers Face Layoffs Before Christmas
Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) will permanently close its full-line corrugated packaging plant on Baltimore Street in Middletown, Ohio, affecting all 91 employees — most of them just weeks before Christmas.
The company filed a WARN notice with the state of Ohio on October 1, with copies sent to the mayor of Middletown and the Butler County commission. The vast majority of the plant's 91 workers will be laid off on December 1, 2026, with a handful possibly asked to stay on a bit longer.
In the WARN notice, the company called the closure "a difficult business decision" aimed at folding the Middletown plant's business into "larger, more efficient operations," including a new PCA plant in Ohio. The letter, signed by company attorney Mark Romaniuk, added: "This was a difficult business decision; it is in no way a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our valued employees." The company did not respond to requests for comment from Packaging Dive and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The successor is a 550,000-square-foot corrugated box converting plant in Newark, Ohio, which PCA announced on its July earnings call had begun production ahead of schedule. Company president Tom Hassfurther said at the time that the plant would "improve our ability to serve and grow with our customers … while improving operating efficiency over the long term." PCA is the third-largest U.S. producer of corrugated packaging and operates nine other plants in Ohio.
Hourly workers are represented by United Steelworkers Local 1676. Union representative Steve Ackerman said the union will negotiate for severance pay, continued insurance, and job-placement referrals, and will help workers file for unemployment and find new jobs. PCA said employees willing to transfer to other plants with openings will be assisted, and that it will work with government officials to help displaced workers.
The timing — between Thanksgiving and Christmas — stings. "No one wants to go through Thanksgiving and then now what? Or, you're starting over going into Christmas…" Ackerman said. "We don't want to see it, whether it's nine people or 91 or 900. We never want to lose a plant; it's people's livelihoods. There's people who spent their entire life here … so, yeah, it's a tragedy in our eyes." Seth Nordhein, who lives across the street from the plant, said: "It's heartbreaking to see people losing their jobs. I mean, especially in this generation… where everybody is literally struggling."
This is not Middletown's first packaging blow. About 15 months ago, Graphic Packaging closed its coated recycled board mill in Middletown (June 1, 2025), affecting about 130 to 136 employees — also a consolidation into newer plants. In a little over a year, Middletown has lost two packaging plants and roughly 220 to 227 manufacturing jobs combined. The Cincinnati Enquirer noted the closure comes two months after JD Vance visited Middletown to speak out about a steel plant layoff wave — recalling at a rally how, when he was in high school there, "classmates came to school saying their fathers had lost their jobs."
Zooming out, the closure is part of a broader de-capacity trend. On its July 24 earnings call, PCA said the industry cut about 6% of capacity this year as competitors closed plants — a pullback that has actually supported paper prices and mill operating rates. FreightWaves' Freight Distress Report of September 28 listed PCA among 15 U.S. companies announcing layoffs or closures, covering about 1,850 jobs across nine states. "It's a tough world for manufacturing right now," Ackerman said, especially in the paper industry, which has lost several plants recently. The Middletown facility is expected to be fully vacated by the end of 2026; the company has not announced plans for the building.