No one is denying job cuts at the Tasman paper mill will affect Kawerau, but it's not all doom and gloom.
At least 120 out of the 300 workers at Norske Skog Tasman will lose their jobs after the decision was made to halve newsprint production at the Kawerau mill.
Eastern Bay of Plenty Chamber of Commerce chief executive Gerard Casey said an influx of redundancy payouts coming to the town would give those who lost their jobs an opportunity to invest in new businesses.
"I think that there may be some impact, we're not aware of the total numbers of losses yet but we're looking at what positives will be coming out of that.
"As I've said to a number of people, it will create a number of redundancies - maybe some of those workers will look at investing in business. For many, the Eastern Bay is their home, they won't want to leave the area."