Lehigh Valley Dixie Cup plant to close by year’s end

Georgia-Pacific has announced that it is closing its Lehigh Valley Dixie Cup manufacturing facility in Forks Township by the end of the year.

Around 190 jobs at the facility will be lost by the closure starting in late March.

The location will continue to manufacture cups for the next several months as some of its equipment is relocated to the company’s manufacturing operations in Lexington, Kentucky.

After this year, all Dixie to Go/PerfecTouch cups will be made at the Lexington plant.

This reverses plans the company had to expand operations at the Forks plant.

In January of last year the company had announced it would be moving some of its cup manufacturing operations from its cup plant in Darlington, South Carolina with operations being split between the Lehigh Valley operations in Forks and the Lexington plant.

That did not occur.

“The market conditions this year have been incredibly difficult,” said Tom Strother, public affairs and communications manager for Georgia-Pacific. “The decision was made to transition to one location.”

The company chose to move all of the manufacturing to Lexington.

Dixie Cups have been manufactured in the Easton area since the early 1920s. The original plant with the iconic Dixie Cup on its roof closed in 1982 with operations continuing in Forks Township.

Georgia-Pacific said it will be working with employees to receive job placement services and will share available opportunities within Georgia-Pacific or other Koch companies.