OLD TOWN, Maine — After months of bad news for Maine’s paper industry, there is some good news Tuesday. Wisconsin-based Expera Specialty Solutions has announced it is buying most of the assets of the Old Town Fuel & Fiber pulp mill and restarting pulp production.
The company owns four specialty paper mills in that state and says it needs the high-quality pulp that has been made by the Old Town plant to make specialty paper products. Addie Teeters is a spokeswoman for the company and says the Old Town facility will complement its existing mills.
"This pulp mill has the capacity to produce more than 200,000 tons annually of northern bleached craft pulp and that is what we are really focused on," she says. "This is going to truly help us integrate our facilities already in Wisconsin. We are just excited to have the Old Town mill join the Expera family."
Unlike the decline in the market for many paper products, Teeters says there is a strong demand for the sort of specialty paper the Expera plant turns out. These include linings for microwave popcorn, popular candy bars and snacks.
"Everything that we make is very specialty focused, whether it we make the paper that creates the peanut butter cup in the Reese's peanut butter cup wrap, or Starburst food packaging," she says.
Teeters says the financial terms of the deal are not being announced, but the sale is part of the bankruptcy of Old Town Fuel & Fiber announced earlier this year. She says Expera will put 170-180 workers back to work at the Old Town plant as soon as the deal can be completed. Gov. Paul LePage is thrilled at Expera’s acquisition of the facility.
"It’s a very good company, a very strong capitalized company so it’s very good news," he says. "Believe me, its great news."
And the governor says the state is doing what it can to expedite Expera’s taking over the Old Town facility and getting workers back to making pulp.
“We are currently developing a Pine Tree Zone program and we are in the process of transferring the permits so that is pretty much a done deal,” LePage says.
The Pine Tree Zone program provides tax breaks to a company that locates within the development zone. Depending of the specific development, companies can get corporate tax credits, sales and use tax exemptions for both personal and real property, reimbursement for personal income withholding amounts and reduced electricity rates.
Both of Maine’s senators, Angus King and Susan Collins, issued statements thanking Expera for investing in Maine.
"It is a company with long experience in the paper industry; It appears to have a good reputation," Collins says.
She says she hopes there will be buyers for other Maine paper companies that have closed, such as the Millinocket-area plants, or the Bucksport facility that only recently announced it would be closing.
"We have so many challenges in the pulp and paper industry and the more people we can get interested in taking a look at those mills the better," Collins says.
Expera hopes to close the deal in December. Calls to a union spokesman were not returned by airtime.
