CLEVELAND, Tenn. (From news reports) -- International Paper Co. plans to close its Cleveland, Tennessee, production plant after 61 years and cut 115 jobs, according to a filing with the state.

Plans are for the facility, on Blue Springs Road in Cleveland, to have its machines and associated operations shut down by mid-December, the company said in the filing Monday with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

"The first employees will begin terminating employment on or about Dec. 16," the company said in a statement.

The closing is part of a series of similar moves by International Paper. Officials said operations also will stop at facilities in Kansas City, Missouri; Rockford, Illinois; and Statesville, North Carolina.

The action comes after corporate layoffs were revealed last week across the company affecting 650 employees, including 400 in Memphis, where the company is headquartered.

Doug Berry, the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce's vice president of economic development, said International Paper started operations there in 1963.

The plant, which is more than 100,000 square feet in size, produces cardboard packaging for a variety of customers, he said in a phone interview.

"As a community, we're disappointed at losing International Paper," Berry said. "The best we can do at this point is align resources to transition employees to new employment."

He said the company never reached out to discuss an issue local officials could address before the announcement.

But, Berry said, Bradley County has about 2,000 jobs coming on line with many of those tooling up this year or next.