Verso Paper in Sartell has announced plans to permanently cut 175 employees. Plant Manager Pat Gibney says while paper prices have risen only about seven-percent over the past couple of years, the cost to manufacture paper has gone up over 25-percent. The company says it will shut down two paper machines at its Sartell facility December 14th, eliminating about 103-thousand tons of paper capacity each year. Gibney says they gave the news to the employees today, but they don’t know yet which workers will be let go. Verso currently has over 400 employees at its Sartell plant. The company says it will also permanently cut 125 employees at their plant in Bucksport, Maine.