The Stories Project: Oregon Livelihoods Traded Away

Mark Weiss Residence: White City, OR Occupation: Royal Oak Enterprises charcoal briquette plant Additional Notes: Mark worked at Royal Oaks for 19 years before it closed in 2005 due to increased imports from China

Snapshots "It gave me a lot of stress. I was in that job for a long time, and it was a good job for the valley here. It turned my plans upside down. It affected me adversely, in that my security was taken away." "China was infiltrating the market with less costly briquettes, due to them paying pennies for the man-hours and lesser restrictions on what they put into their products." "People with families are losing their jobs because they're going out of the country. What are they going to do? They're losing their homes and the necessities for living. I know more people going to food banks and collecting unemployment. It's not a good thing."

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