Katahdin Paper Company Mill in Millinocket

On Friday, Olympia and I both spoke at the annual convention of the VFW in Lewiston and then headed north to meet with town officials, union representatives, and the mill manager at Katahdin Paper Company in Millinocket. Despite its great workforce and plentiful customers, the mill is slated to be shut down at the end of July because the high cost of oil makes it unprofitable. Unlike most paper mills in Maine, the Millinocket mill runs on oil.

The answer appears to be converting the mill to a biomass boiler. The Governor and his forest products adviser, Rosaire Pelletier, are working hard to identify financial support for the conversion. I had talked with the Governor about his plan the previous weekend and told him that Olympia and I would do everything we could to help him save the mill. We are investigating every possible source of help that we can think of: tax credits, low-interest loans from USDA, etc.

The closure of the mill would be devastating for Millinocket and the surrounding communities which have endured far too many economic blows over the past decade. With all of us working together, I hope we can save these good jobs that are the heart and soul of Millinocket.