JAY — Town Manager Ruth Marden is pulling together information on the financial affect the closing of the Otis Mill here will have on her town.

But Marden said early Wednesday her first priority was to help the families of the 246 workers who are losing their livelihoods.

“I am extremely concerned about the people losing their jobs and on the ripple affect on the families and the community, and the small businesses that relay on local workers for their bread and butter,” Marden said.

Wausau, the mill’s parent company announced Tuesday, it would be shuttering the mill as part of a series of initiatives intended to improve financial performance, conserve cash and increase the coporation’s financial flexibility.

The initiatives include shutting down the remaining paper machine at the Jay mill to enhance the long-term cost structure of the Specialty Products business.

The company shut down its other machine at the Jay mill on Dec. 14, 2008 putting about 150 people out of work.

The closure of the mill is expected to put the remaining 96 or so employees left out of work.