A Washington state-based tissue manufacturing company, Clearwater Paper Corp. is...

A Washington state-based tissue manufacturing company, Clearwater Paper Corp. is closing its Central Islip plant at 555 N. Research Place, eliminating the 153 jobs. The Long Island layoffs are scheduled to start Monday, Feb. 23 and conclude, May 18. Credit: Google

A Washington State-based tissue manufacturing company is closing its Central Islip location, eliminating the 153 jobs there.

Spokane-based Clearwater Paper Corp. detailed its plans in a state regulatory filing Tuesday. The company said in a statement Monday that it would consolidate the local operations into some lower-cost facilities.

The company has 12 other manufacturing plants in the United States and one in Canada. The Long Island layoffs are scheduled to start Sunday and end May 18.

"This has been a tough decision, one where we carefully reviewed all alternatives to closing the plant," Tom Colgrove, president of the company's consumer products division, said in the statement.

Clearwater said employees can apply for jobs at the other plants. It has one other New York operation, in upstate Natural Dam, near the Canadian border, spokesman Matt Van Vleet said Tuesday. It also has a location in East Hartford, Conn., he said.

"We would have to look at the plants we have . . . to determine which jobs are open," Van Vleet said.

The company said it will offer employees severance pay and provide career-assistance services.

Clearwater bought the facility from Cellu Tissue in December 2010, Van Vleet said. The Long Island plant converted large rolls of paper into private-label products such as bathroom tissue, paper towels and napkins.

The announcement is another blow to the Island's manufacturing sector, which has been losing jobs for years. In December the sector had 71,500 jobs, the latest state Labor Department data show, down from 73,400 a year earlier and 132,700 jobs in December 1990.

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