Checking in on the 'New Jobless'

Clapsaddle has discovered there's life after a paper mill. After being laid off from Wausau Paper in December (the mill closed its door for good in June), the longtime Maine resident completed a heating and air-conditioning course and had a job lined up before his program ended. June 1 was his first day at Comfort Systems USA in South Portland, but the new post requires a 140-mile roundtrip trek daily. "The commute isn't bad. It's what it's costing me," he says, referring to the $100 a week he spends on gas.

Clapsaddle's new job is a major pay cut from the mill, but he likes the variety of the work and sees himself staying in the HVAC field. Still, it's not been easy to make ends meet. "Right now we're stable," he says of his family. "But it [wouldn't] take long to start falling behind."

NEXT: Diana Mackey: Coming full circle