GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Company leaders at Green Bay Converting have issued a statement to Local Five five weeks following the fire that destroyed one of their warehouses on Larsen Road.
The fire, which started the morning of March 16th, in the middle of a historic blizzard, burned for several days, with Green Bay Converting leadership, confirming that it destroyed the warehouse at the facility and the inventory inside.
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Despite the warehouse and inventory being destroyed, those with Green Bay Converting say the production facility and equipment were largely preserved, even with some smoke and water entering the facility. They add that their other operations are continuing to support customers as needed.
Since the fire broke out, officials with the company say they have been “working tirelessly” on what they report is a “multi-phase recovery plan,” with the first phase of the plan having focused on cleaning the production equipment.
That first phase is said to be about 50% completed, and the next phase is expected to focus on the cleaning, repairing, and remediation of the facility’s whole structure, including the walls, floors, ceilings, and insulation throughout.
Leadership with Green Bay Converting says they are still awaiting information from third parties to help determine a timeline for the recovery efforts, but are remaining hopeful that the offices at the Larsen facility can be reoccupied and the production can begin to restart within the next 60 days.
They add that the facility’s full production likely will not be restored until the summer, with the rebuild of the warehouse expected to take longer, but not significantly impacting the restart of production.
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Green Bay Converting officials state that despite the extraordinary efforts of everyone involved over the course of the last five weeks, some challenges have arisen for the company as a whole. While the company has carried its full payroll since the fire, the difficult decision is being made to support a number of employees in transitioning to employment elsewhere.
They add that this affects less than 35 of the 200 employees the company has in Green Bay, and for those employees this does affect, the company is supporting them with financial assistance and transition resources through the company and through coordination with state and local employment agencies.
GBC is fully committed to restarting production at our Larsen facility and to exceeding our pre‑fire levels of operations and employment well before year‑end 2026. We remain deeply grateful for the continued support and patience of the community, our peers in the industry, our customers, our vendors, and most importantly, our employees.
Green Bay Converting leadership
