Idled Kaiser casts dark cloud on Spokane economy
Bert Caldwell - Staff writer
Local officials and business leaders will tell Bonneville Power Administration head Steve Wright that prolonged idling of the Northwest's aluminum industry could have dire consequences for the Spokane area economy.
For every job lost at Kaiser Aluminum Corp., the community loses another 2.9 jobs, said Jeff Selle, regulatory affairs coordinator for the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce.
A survey of Kaiser suppliers indicates they already have laid off 321 employees, he said.
The economic cost: $226 million.
Kaiser shut down its Mead smelter in December, costing about 1,000 wage earners and salaried employees their jobs. Kaiser's Trentwood rolling mill continues to operate.
How, Selle asked, can Spokane be expected to find new jobs that pay $58,000 in annual wages and benefits, as the Kaiser jobs did?
"We feel these concerns of ours are falling on deaf ears," he said.
Spur Industries Chief Executive Officer John Scelfo will be among those making Spokane's case today in Portland.
Spur Industries supplies parts to aluminum plants around the world and services to plants in the Northwest.
Scelfo said he already has had to lay off 20 of his 85 employees. And he is struggling to make payments on a loan that financed a plan to give workers partial ownership of Spur Industries.
"It doesn't seem like any of this has been taken into consideration," Scelfo said. "It's a very personal thing with me."
He said he can understand that drought has forced a short-term shutdown of smelting capacity in the region, but he can't understand the BPA's desire to keep the plants sidelined for two years while new generating plants increase electricity supplies.
"We definitely can't survive that," Scelfo said. "They know that spells the death knell."
He said the BPA and the region must develop a comprehensive plan for the long-term survival of the aluminum industry, which provides 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
"We want a solution that's fair and equitable for everyone," Selle added.
Besides Wright, the Spokane group will meet with Steve Oliver, BPA vice president for bulk power and marketing services, and Vickie VanZandt, vice president for transmission operations and marketing.
The Spokane delegation will include Stacey Cowles, publisher of The Spokesman-Review; Kate McCaslin, Spokane County commissioner; Jack Lynch, administrator for the city of Spokane; Clay Larkin, mayor of Post Falls; Rich Hadley, president of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce; and Mark Turner, president of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council, as well as Selle and Scelfo.