A few dozen pairs of freshly laundered jean overalls are still lined up on a rack outside the mechanic shop in Ponderay Newsprint Company in Usk, Washington. Before filing for bankruptcy in June, despite receiving a $3.5 million PPP loan a few months earlier, 21 mechanical engineers would put them on before work each day. They were among the 148 workers laid off in the small unincorporated town near the Idaho border. The massive plant has been quiet the last six months, with a skeleton crew of just six men remaining at the facility to run the boiler and ensure equipment is maintained. ⠀

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The paper mill used to create enough newsprint each day to stretch from Usk to New York, a source of pride for Todd Behrend, who celebrated his 28-year anniversary at the mill just before it closed. He led me around the facility for a story USA Today, one of Ponderay’s largest clients, published about corporations that have closed despite receiving PPP funds.