BAILEYVILLE, Maine - There's a rare bit of good news out of the Maine pulp and paper industry. Gov. Paul LePage was in Washington County this morning attend a ground-breaking ceremony for two new paper-making machines. St. Croix Tissue Inc. of Baileyville is getting $120 million worth of equipment installed, courtesy of parent company International Grand Investment Corporation, which is based in Hong Kong. According to state officials, the first machine is expected to be up-and-running in Baileyville next fall. The company plans to add 80 direct jobs and 200 indirect jobs, with hiring beginning next spring. The governor is calling it the "largest single investment in Maine's paper industry in decades.'' It comes less than two weeks after Verso Paper announced it would close its mill in Bucksport due to poor market conditions. For more on this story, MPBN's Tom Porter spoke with John Williams, president of the Maine Pulp and Paper Industry Association, and asked him how significant this news is.
