The Daily News

Imation’s announcement Monday that the Wahpeton plant would be closing within the next two years just didn’t get the attention of the Red River Valley, it got the attention of those who might be able to help.

Both North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are aware of how potentially devastating Imation’s closing could be the Twin Towns if no new business or businesses are eventually found to take Imation’s place. But both governors also emphasized that with Imation leaving in phases, there will be a lot of work ahead to find suitable businesses for relocation and having building space available for those businesses in a timely manner.

“This is really a unique situation,” said Dan McElroy, commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development. “Gov. Pawlenty knows how important Imation was to not only Wahpeton and Breckenridge and the surrounding area and knows how vital it is to find further business for that region. We’ll need to hear from Imation and from North Dakota to see what plans are being made for the future.”

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Imation’s closing means that 390 employees will be out of work by middle of 2009. Seventy-five percent of that work force comes from Wahpeton and Breckenridge alone.

Hoeven hopes a meeting with everybody involved can happen quickly.

“I’ve spoken with Imation’s senior vice president (John Sullivan) as well as Wahpeton City officials,” Hoeven said. “We’re working so we can approach the situation with the best interest of the workers and community in mind.”

Hoeven added he’s already contacted the Department of Commerce to work with both the Twin Towns and Imation on efforts to find potential new employers for the facilities.

Both North Dakota and Minnesota officials say there are programs in place to help displaced workers. Job Service North Dakota has already set up plans to work with employees to make the transition as smooth as possible. Minnesota also has programs in place for dealing with layoffs of this proportion. It doesn’t appear that having two states working together will be a problem.

“North Dakota will take the lead and we will work with them at every opportunity,” MeElroy said. “We will do whatever we need to do. We have a rapid response team and we’ll send out people as soon as it’s appropriate. We want to be able to meet with the workers as soon as possible.”

Wahpeton Mayor Jim Sturdevant said the only positive to come out of Monday’s announcement was that the closing wasn’t immediate.

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