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Boise Cascade plans to cut 400 jobs Local mill's future remains uncertain By DAVID PRESZLER Boise Cascade plans to cut costs throughout the company next year, although no announcement about the fate of Medford's Boise mill has been made. Boise, which employs about 22,000 people, says it will cut its costs by an estimated $70 million over the next year -- eliminating 400 jobs companywide. "In light on the ongoing global financial crisis and the weak business environment that I believe still lies ahead, we are taking steps to permanently reduce our cost of doing business," George J. Harad, the chairman of Boise's board and its chief executive officer, said in a statement. Boise spokesman Bob Smith said the cutbacks won't affect the 400 employees at the company's four White City mills. Nor are they expected to play a role in the decision on whether to rebuild the Medford mill, which burned Sept. 7. "That's primarily directed at our corporate staff,' he said. "It really doesn't have any bearing on this (the decision)." Boise's board of directors met Friday to consider its options for the Medford site. Smith said no decision was reached and that an announcement wasn't expected until the week after Christmas. Three options have emerged as the most likely: rebuild the plywood plant fully, rebuild part of it or don't rebuild at all. Fully rebuilding the plant would cost about $75 million -- a figure thought to be close to the amount Boise's insurance company paid out following the fire. But the company is weighing the strength of the sanded plywood market and the future availability of raw materials before deciding whether to make that kind of reinvestment. Boise has said that the decision to rebuild was tied to how a new Medford mill would fit with its eight other Oregon mills, which will all likely be affected by the recently announced cutbacks. About 100 of the 400 jobs eliminated will be at the company's headquarters in Boise, Idaho. The other 300 will be spread around the wood and paper facilities, including the 55 jobs that will be lost when Boise's paper research and development facility in Portland is closed next year. Some employees will be offered early retirement, with the remaining job cuts to come through layoffs and attrition. Boise corporate spokesman Andrew Drysdale said the number of cuts at any specific mill won't be clear until early retirements and such are sorted through. In addition to the $70 million savings in 1999, the cutbacks are expected to generate a write-off of $40 million for the fourth quarter of 1998. The company also plans to sell portions of its timberlands that are tied to mills scheduled for closure. Boise estimates that capital spending in its paper businesses will be about 35 percent less than depreciation in 1998 and will be kept at similar levels next year. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA