Papertown

On March 6, 2023, Pactiv Evergreen announced in an earnings report that it would be closing a 100-year old papermill in Canton, a small town just west of Asheville in Haywood County. It was the state’s largest layoff of the year.

Unlike other closings, the mill is the town – physically and culturally. The mill takes up 185 acres right in downtown Canton.

Here is what else is different. This county has been through it. On top of the pandemic, in August 2020, there was a cyberattack on the school system. One year later, in August 2021, there was 100-year historic flooding.

Shelley White, the president of Haywood Community College, invited EdNC to pilot an innovative model of crisis intervention to provide support for local leaders to protect educational anchor institutions – including early child care capacity, the school district, the early college, and the community college.

In January 2025, the Haywood County Commission acknowledged EdNC’s role in the Canton recovery.