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The state's paper industry was dealt another blow today as NewPage announced it will close its Kimberly paper mill, near Appleton, eliminating 475 jobs from the Fox River Valley community.

The mill, scheduled to close at the end of August, produces approximately 500,000 tons annually of coated freesheet paper used for commercial printing and specialty applications.

The loss of the jobs is in addition to the 125 employees who lost their jobs when the company shut down one of its three paper machines in May.

"Our decision to close the mill is the result of a weak economy, the continued effects of low-priced imported products and skyrocketing costs," said Michael Edicola, NewPage vice president of human resources. "We realize these decisions have a significant impact on our employees and they are difficult to make. We will continue helping individuals at the Kimberly mill to stay focused on working safely so that no one gets hurt prior to the mill closing, while simultaneously assisting them in identifying new employment opportunities, offering employee assistance programs or providing severance benefits to those who are displaced."

NewPage, based in Miamisburg, Ohio, in June closed its mill in Niagara, in far northeastern Wisconsin, eliminating 319 jobs from the Marinette County community of 1,850. The company also is eliminating about 200 white-collar jobs in Wisconsin Rapids.

The Kimberly mill will be the third in Wisconsin to close this year. In June, Domtar closed its mill in Port Edwards, just south of Wisconsin Rapids, putting about 500 people out of work.

Although Wisconsin has led the nation in papermaking for more than 50 years, the latest layoffs and closures are part of a decadelong trend.

In 1990, about 50,000 people worked in paper manufacturing statewide. Employment peaked in 1997 at 51,784, but tumbled to 35,445 by 2007, according to the state Department of Workforce Development.

The job losses are tied to several factors, according to experts, including mergers and acquisitions by international firms and the fact that modern paper machines require fewer workers. In addition, the production of less-expensive paper has been shifted to other countries such as China, Chile, Korea and Malaysia, where production costs are much lower and demand for paper is rising.