FRANKLIN—While 1,100 workers were being told they were losing their jobs at International Paper’s Franklin mill on Thursday, about 35 others were probably breathing a sigh of relief.

Customer service positions housed at the mill will not be affected by the closure, which is set to happen in the spring, said Desmond Stills, the mill’s communications manager.

“Of the jobs that are here, the one piece of business that is not going to be impacted is customer service,” Stills said.

The customer services workers are not part of the 1,100 employed by the Franklin mill.

“They work for the corporate office in Memphis but they have office space here in Franklin,” he explained.

Stills added that it hasn’t been decided whether the workers will keep that office space in Franklin.

“They’ll maintain their jobs but that doesn’t mean they’ll stay here,” Stills said. “They’ll be somewhere in the Hampton Roads area.”