South Coast Paper has cut approximately a third of its workforce at its plant in Maplesville.

The layoff impacted managers and hourly workers. The announcement was made on Thursday.

Maplesville Mayor Kurt Wallace said these cuts are detrimental to the community.

“Most of the people who work at South Coast Paper live in Maplesville,” he said. “Any kind of job losses in a community like ours is significant.”

The company attributes the reductions to declining product demand that made it difficult to continue to meet long-term business objectives.

“This has been an extremely difficult decision, but necessary. We regret the need to reduce employment and we are empathic to the effects this layoff will cause in our employees’ personal lives and to our community,” managing member Paul Mitchell said in a statement.

South Coast Paper is feeling the effects of the overall economic downturn and attributes its downsizing to an uncertain economy.

In addition to the layoffs, South Coast Paper has taken aggressive steps to protect its financial standings by reducing travel expenses, costs associated with vendors and enforcing tighter control of company expenditures.

“It is never a good thing when you have to let good people go. Everyone affected by this downsizing is appreciated for their contributions to this company,” said Dale Enfinger, Plant Manager. “We pledge to help our employees in their transition to new opportunities as much as possible.”