plum creek shuts down (Evergreen: for sale, foreclosure, loan)

[grannymontanny]

its stud and reman mill in evergreen. anyone need a good welder and maintanence man

[jimj]

The rumor that I'd heard around town a couple of weeks ago is they were supposed to move the whole C-Falls plant to Evergreen and shut it down, then we heard last week that C-Falls was told if they don't make money in the next couple of months then they're going to be shut down. Looks like the second rumor was true, 63 jobs in Evergreen and 23 lost in C-Falls, I'm betting C-Falls will be done soon...

[grannymontanny]

I think you could be right jim,I dont know if this county can take many more job losses. So many homes for sale all over the county everwhere you go.I hope ours isnt going to join them.Hubby lost his job ,and once you hit the 50 mark,its harder to re-enter the job market. This is a good eye opener for people still wanting to move here,BYOJ!

[jimj]

I know it's hard, I just turned 50 and it'd be real ugly if I was not already retired. I was just talking with a small business owner friend of mine and we were discussing how it's very possible this valley will be going back to an economy like was here around the mid to early 80's where there was little employment, real low pay for what was here and people just scraping by. I forsee many of the locals having to flee to survive (I'm already seeing some moving away to find jobs) and being replaced by retired or wealthy people from Canada and other states. I hope I'm wrong but if there's nothing but low paying service jobs here what are people to do? Semitool is a shell, all the mills are almost done, the aluminum plant is barely alive so what's left?

[jimj]

Well in todays paper it was announced that the aluminum plant will be fully shutting down next month, most likely for good. 63 more workers now unemployed along with some serious hits to the vendors. The opinion I'm hearing more and more is that we're headed back to a mid 70's early 80's economy where the long time locals survived but newbies had better bring lot's 'o dough or starve.

[grannymontanny]

we had heard rumors about the aluminum plant last week,so that wasnt a surprise. but still, a really sad thing .i sure hope everyone can weather this storm. i know ill be buying lots of lotto tickets this county is going to be hurting when all those empployees dollars, that supported the stores of every kind,cant afford to shop.

[acwhite96]

Originally Posted by jimj

Well in todays paper it was announced that the aluminum plant will be fully shutting down next month, most likely for good. 63 more workers now unemployed along with some serious hits to the vendors. The opinion I'm hearing more and more is that we're headed back to a mid 70's early 80's economy where the long time locals survived but newbies had better bring lot's 'o dough or starve.

Great words of encouragement! Haven't been here a year yet and relocated here with a company that opened end of June last year. They closed the doors end of April. I have been applying all over trying to find something that pays more than $10 hr. I have now applied out of state. My anticipation when moving here, grow roots and stay a while!

Winter wasn't as bad as everyone made it seem it would be! Ya, it was long, but I always had camera in hand!!

[grannymontanny]

Originally Posted by acwhite96

Great words of encouragement! Haven't been here a year yet and relocated here with a company that opened end of June last year. They closed the doors end of April. I have been applying all over trying to find something that pays more than $10 hr. I have now applied out of state. My anticipation when moving here, grow roots and stay a while!

Winter wasn't as bad as everyone made it seem it would be! Ya, it was long, but I always had camera in hand!!

Sorry to hear that. good luck tho in finding somthing soon. i hope we dont have to look out of state,i dont want to sell,even tho i hate my neighborsLOL

[jimj]

Originally Posted by acwhite96

Great words of encouragement! Haven't been here a year yet and relocated here with a company that opened end of June last year. They closed the doors end of April. I have been applying all over trying to find something that pays more than $10 hr. I have now applied out of state. My anticipation when moving here, grow roots and stay a while!

Winter wasn't as bad as everyone made it seem it would be! Ya, it was long, but I always had camera in hand!!

I remember you really looking forward to moving here and I am truely sorry you're caught up in this mess (as is my wife).
Thankfully she is driving a bus in the park until labor day so she'll make more than simple unemployment for a bit but will be back on it since pharmacy jobs are now impossible to find.
I surely don't mean to be discouraging but do beleive in looking at what the indicators show is most likely coming, facing it head on and making plans to deal with it. At least we have "some" forewarning and can start making exit plans if it becomes a reality.
The people who have a paid off house or a real low payment and no other bills should be ok and I'll bet hunting/berry season will be huge this year. Safeway in whitefish is accepting apps online ahead of their grand re-opening and if y'all can survive for a year the new super walmart will have to hire more people (I know, yuk but a job's a job I guess)

[Broz]

Originally Posted by grannymontanny

,i dont want to sell,even tho i hate my neighborsLOL

First off I would like to say I am sorry to hear of all of your hardships. I wish you all the best in finding new employment and hopefully soon.

This is happening all over, even in more populated areas and I talk to more people with justified concerns about their future almost everyday.

This brings me to my point which is. I would caution you on putting any real hope in selling your home to better your situation. Selling right now (in our area anyway) is a pipe dream. Property values are down probably over 30% from a year ago. Even if you had a good bit of equity and you can drop the price you still need a buyer. Buyers are few and far between and need stable jobs. Then comes the problem that buyers that were approved maybe 6 months ago for a loan are no longer qualified under current guide lines. The lenders keep kicking the loan back requesting more down money, more appraisals, inspections etc. Now, in many cases, they require one of the appraisal comps to be a sold foreclosure. This in turn drives the already reduced value of the home down even further.

Talking with many lenders they continue to tell me "yes, we are lending on homes" But from what I can see, the people that are trying to buy my property are good buyers but unless you really don't need the loan to buy it, you probably will not get the loan. I don't think the banks are that crazy about loaning money at 4 or 5%.

I have done research and I realize Montana typically is affected less by past recessions and MT also usually sees it later towards the end. But I also have been seriously watching for a property to buy there for over a year. Many of the properties are still for sale and a small percentage is actually selling. I also just noticed in the last few weeks that many properties have dropped their prices. Most only 5 to 10% but this might just be the beginning.

Sorry for the rambling,, I am typically not one to spread doom and gloom. But maybe some of what we have learned will be of some help in some way.

I wish you all the best. My advice is you can count on the good Lord, loved ones, neighbors and friends. They just may be your most valuable assets right now.

I hope things make the turn soon, many good people are hurting and I hate it.

Best of luck to all.

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