1 minute read
Turning the Page
Bucksport
Bucksport, in Downeast Maine, has enjoyed some success in rebounding from the 2014 closure of its paper mill, Verso, which once employed more than a thousand people. Anticipating the mill’s eventual closure, the town began setting aside money three decades earlier to help prepare for a more diverse economic future. Among the projects in the pipeline is a major land-based salmon farm on the site of the old mill.
Jay
After making paper continuously since the 1880s, the central Maine town now faces a difficult future. Jay’s last remaining mill, Pixelle Androscoggin, employing 230 people, closed in March, the mill owners citing “economic forces beyond our control.” In the 1980s, the Jay paper mill employed 1,500 people, most of whom walked out of their jobs in 1987 in a historic sixteen-month strike that sharply divided the town.
Lincoln
A papermaking tradition dating back nearly 140 years came to an end in 2015, when Lincoln Paper and Tissue filed for bankruptcy. The northern Maine town received an economic boost recently, however, with the announcement of an agreement with a Mainebased energy company to develop a biofuels refinery on the site of the old mill, now known as the Lincoln Technology Park. The project is expected to ultimately bring five hundred new jobs to the area.
Madawaska
Situated on the Canadian border in far northern Maine, the French-speaking town of Madawaska has been making paper since 1925 and is still very much in the business, with Twin Rivers Paper Company currently employing about 430 people. One of the challenges the mill faces today is finding enough workers to fill positions. This led to recent protests by some employees, unhappy at being forced to work overtime and with the possible risk it poses for workplace safety.
Millinocket
The Great Northern Paper Mill in Millinocket was once among the biggest in the world. When it closed in 2008, it brought to an end more than a hundred years of history, hollowing out a once prosperous central Maine community. There’s been some optimism in recent years, however, with plans taking shape to revitalize the mill, including a proposal to develop a wood pellet production facility.
Westbrook
This southern Maine town’s connection to the papermaking industry goes back to the 1730s (when paper was still made from rags!). In the nineteenth century, the SD Warren Paper Mill grew to become the largest in the world, producing 35,000 pounds of the stuff every year by 1880. Today, Westbrook still makes paper, albeit on a much smaller scale, and many of the town’s historic mill buildings have been successfully redeveloped as apartments and commercial spaces.
