LINCOLN, Maine — The investment firm that now owns Lincoln Paper and Tissue says it's open to selling the mill to a third party that wants to keep making paper.
Boston-based Gordon Brothers Group announced its purchase of the Lincoln Mill, which filed for bankruptcy in September, on Thursday.
Stephen Clay, who chairs the Lincoln Town Council, says word of the sale began to leak out around town before Gordon Brothers announced it publicly.
"I think everyone is cautiously optimistic at this point," he says. "We don't want to get our hopes up too high. But, of course, it would be a great thing if they did sell it to someone who wants to operate the tissue machines."
A call and email to Gordon Brothers, seeking comment, were not returned by airtime. But in a press release, Bob Maroney, head of the firm's commercial and industrial division, says, "Our purchase of this mill provides a significant opportunity for a strategic operator to restart the mill."
Three other firms, including Capital Recovery Group, have partnered with Gordon Brothers on the purchase. In the release, Capital President Bill Firestone says, "We are investing capital to maintain a warm idle and would like nothing more than to have an operator restart the plant and create jobs."
Clay says the town cut half a million dollars from its budget two years ago in an effort to cushion the blow, should the mill close. But he says a permanent shutdown, and dismantling, of the mill would still have a huge effect.
"It's not just the people that work at the mill that are affected," Clay says. "There are truck drivers. There are people that work in the woods who cut the trees down. It affects the whole town. It's a trickle-down effect."
The Lincoln Town Council will have its first meeting, since the sale was finalized, on Monday.
In the Gordon Brothers press release, Maroney says, "In the event an operator does not materialize, we will provide buyers with the chance to purchase some highly desirable, late model paper and tissue equipment."