Commercial Truck Insurance in Georgetown, SC

International Paper on Thursday announced it will permanently close its pulp and paper mill in Georgetown, South Carolina, by the end of 2024. A total of 674 jobs (526 hourly and 148 salaried employees) will be impacted.

As of Thursday morning, there wasn’t a related WARN notice published in South Carolina’s public database, but it’s the single largest concentrated round of layoffs that the Memphis, Tennessee-based company has announced in recent weeks, of more than 1,500 total disclosed across multiple states. However, the Georgetown site is less focused on packaging.

The Georgetown mill produces 300,000 tons of fluff pulp for consumer products like diapers. Even with the closure, IP said it plans to retain customers and service them from other IP sites. The mill also has a supply agreement for uncoated freesheet papers with Sylvamo. That company, also based in Memphis, sells products such as copy and printer papers and those converted into envelopes, as well as specialty papers used in items like paper shopping bags or flour bags. IP and Sylvamo are ending that agreement Dec. 31.

The Georgetown closure comes as IP plans to “review strategic options” for its global cellulose fibers business. CEO Andy Silvernail said on a third-quarter earnings call Thursday that while the company will “evaluate every option ... the most likely option is a sale” and there have been multiple interested parties. IP retained Morgan Stanley as an advisor to review these options.

Silvernail said exiting the Georgetown mill “significantly lowers complexity and costs.” CFO Tim Nicholls said IP anticipates the Georgetown closure will decrease GCF business earnings by approximately $220 million in the fourth quarter due to depreciation expenses.

The GCF business reported $710 million in net sales during Q3, down from $725 million in Q3 of 2023, though profits were up.

Silvernail, who most recently served as an executive advisor in private equity, is now about six months into the job. He had alluded to forthcoming capacity reductions on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

“As you look region by region, you have places that have way too much capacity, and you have places that do not have enough, and one of the mistakes that we have made over time is we have not made the tough choices,” said Silvernail. “Taking capacity out of places where we shouldn’t have it, and then investing aggressively in places that we should have it” is what IP will focus on as it tries to find “that right balance.”

The South Carolina announcement is the latest of several big closure and layoff announcements by International Paper in October:

MYRTLE BEACH — Hurricane Milton will impact the Grand Strand this week, but forecasters don't expect the area to see much damage from the storm.

Rough surf, rip currents, gusting winds and some beach erosion are possible, according to the National Weather Service's Oct. 7 report, which said the "limited coastal impacts" would arrive between late Oct. 9 and Oct. 11.

The NWS expects gusts along the Grand Strand to peak around 35 mph on Oct. 10, and light rain could arrive with the storm, which is expected to make landfall along Florida's West Coast as a major hurricane on Oct. 9.

This comes less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast, killing more than 225 people in six states.

Fueled by warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton surged to a Category 5 behemoth with sustained wind speeds of 165 mph before dropping to a Category 4 storm. Forecasters expect the storm to weaken before it makes landfall. However, the hurricane will cover a vast area, causing widespread impacts.

Since the storm’s track remains uncertain, forecasters said the potential for stronger winds, heavier rain and higher waves remains possible.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH — Before "The Voice," Gail Bliss admits she knew little about the one and only D-O-double-G.

Then she reached the next episode.

"It was so funny because I’m like, Snoop Dogg?" the 61-year-old flight attendant said of the rapper and "The Voice" judge who recently picked her for his team on the NBC singing competition. "I know nothing about the guy. ... (But) I’m the happiest girl in the world right now. I’m sitting here wearing my Snoop Dogg necklace, what he called his ‘drip’ — which I had no idea what a ‘drip’ was — but now I own one and it’s just hilarious.”’

Bliss, who lives in Little River, impressed the "Gin and Juice" artist with her rendition of The SteelDrivers' “If It Hadn't Been For Love” on the Sept. 30 show.

Contestants on "The Voice" sing for a panel of celebrity judges. Along with Snoop, this season's judges are Michael Bublé, Gwen Stefani and Reba McEntire. In this phase of the competition, the blind audition, the judges' chairs are turned away from the contestants. They hear them, and they swivel around if they decide to pick a singer for their team.

Bliss admits her performance on the show wasn't her “best vocal day.” And when none of the judges spun around after her song, she accepted her fate.

“I was resigned to the fact that nobody turned so I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s let these kids have their chance,’ ” Bliss said.

Stefani and McEntire offered some parting compliments, but then Snoop spoke up.

"The spirit of my mother is in me right now," he said, then spoke about how his mother's sister was also named Gail and she was one of his favorite aunts. He pointed out the show had a feature called the coach's replay, which allows a judge to spare an eliminated vocalist. When Snoop hit the red button sending Bliss to the next round, she was thrilled.

"When he started talking about the spirit of his Auntie Gail and his mother and talking about if he were to push the button, you can see my head and I’m thinking I didn’t (make it),” Bliss said. “I’m like, ‘What is he talking about?’ and then when he hit his button and I realized I was actually still in this competition, saved by the unlikeliest choice in Snoop Dogg, I was ecstatic. I was jumping around like a hyena on steroids, I’m just so thrilled and happy laughing."

For Bliss, auditioning for the show was one of her goals after turning 60.

"I don’t want to have any regrets,” she said. “I always try to get things done before I’m too old and too rigidly that I can look back and say, ‘Oh man, I should have done this or should have done that.’ "

Of her birthday goals — her "six epics" — trying out for "The Voice" was the finale. Although she had been singing professionally for most of her life, never did Bliss think she would actually end up on national television, much less advance in a competition. But she wanted to try, and she told the judges that's why she was there.

"If nothing else, I want to inspire the older folks to keep dreaming, keep living, keep having fun," she said. "That's where I'm coming from."

Now Bliss heads to the show's next phase, the battle stage where coaches pair two artists to perform together. One is chosen to advance. No matter what happens, she hope she motivates her peers.

And despite having "no interest in rap," she's learned a lot about her new coach and remains grateful to Snoop.

"I thought (rap) was all he had done," she said. "Then people are like 'Did you realize he did a collaboration with Martha Stewart?’ And I’m like, 'No.' (Others said) ‘Did you realize he’s been in Brazil with Pharrell Williams?’ And then I started looking into him a little bit and I’m like, ‘Man, this guy is a cool cat.'"

Well, Dogg, technically.

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A craft beer fan and teacher from Cincinnati, Chase Runyan started brewing in his house by tinkering with kits and learning how to bottle the beer after fermentation. After making five or six batches each year, Runyan built up a good-sized collection of equipment that he stashed in a storage unit when he moved to Georgetown in 2017.

In the meantime, Runyan was enjoying a brew at Buzz’s Roost on Georgetown’s Front Street while wearing his Cincinnati Bengals merch. Also originally from Cincinnati, restaurateur Trevor Day stopped into Buzz’s where he struck up a conversation with Runyan centered around their mutually favorite sports team.

As Runyan had recently cleared out his storage unit, he realized how much brewing equipment he had and asked his new buddy, Day, if he could use his garage on weekends to practice his hobby. After time, trial and error, Runyan perfected his systems and when Day tried one of his concoctions, he exclaimed, “Dang man, we could sell this!” So after extensive research into

consistency, legalities, quality control and more, Runyan started brewing in a small storage space at Buzz’s that he and Day converted into a tiny brewery.

Fast forward four years and Runyan is now the brewmaster at Georgetown’s first brewery, Winyah Bay Brewing, named for the nearby bay. “Georgetown had a niche for a local craft brewery to tie in with the neighborhood, its residents and rich history,” Runyan said, adding that Winyah’s logo with the lighthouse was strategically designed as a nod to the locality. Further, the brewery is located inside a handsome 19th century brick carriage house located at 932 B Front Street, which is also accessible from King Street.

The range of selections that are offered at Winyah Bay Brewing depend on the season, as well as what styles are most popular with regulars and visitors. According to Runyan, four or five flagship flavors will be mainstays on the menu, while four or five additional options will be

available based on seasonality. The open tap room includes high tops, bar space and leaning ledges that invite patrons to sample brews while immersing themselves in the brewery. “We are excited to bring this concept to Georgetown,” Runyan said. “A lot of work has gone into this project and it’s been very rewarding.”

Runyan shared that behind the scenes, a day in the life of a brewmaster begins by prepping a recipe with the malt already milled and put into a grist case (a vessel for storing cracked grain before adding it to the brew kettle), while ensuring the equipment’s system is dialed in to the correct temperatures. Once the process is complete, Runyan resets the system and cleans it out before making the next batch.

“Essentially the life of a brewer is more about engineering, technical observation and cleaning,” Runyan explained. “I let the system do the work and am there to make sure it doesn’t falter and that everything is flowing.” And soon, Winyah’s beers will indeed be flowing along coastal South Carolina from Mount Pleasant to Myrtle Beach.

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