Alabama Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey sent members of her staff to North Alabama to meet with city, county, and business leaders about the impending closure of the Courtland International Paper Mill.

Ivey said Monday that her office will use the meetings to establish a rapport between local and state offices, assess the economic impact of the plant’s closure, and to help coordinate the state’s response with the Office of the Governor, Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs and the Department of Post-Secondary Education.

“Elected leaders can learn a great deal by listening,” Ivey said. “At this point, we need to gather the facts from those who know best how the closure will impact the area and devise a plan moving forward.”

The IP closure will impact more than a thousand mill employees directly, as well as a significant number of loggers, truckers, small businesses and land owners in the area.

“There is no doubt the closure of the mill will leave a great void in the economic landscape of the area, but I am hopeful that through our positive and effective conversations with community leadership, and coordination on a state level, we can identify new business investments for the area and job opportunities for workers in Lawrence County and the surrounding area,” Ivey said.

Among those involved with the meetings are: Courtland Mayor Clarence Logston, Lawrence County Commissioner Moss Jones, Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Diane Scanland, and Industrial Development Board Executive Director Tony Stockton.

The Courtland mill, built in the early 1970s, is expected to be completely shut down by the first quarter of 2014.

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