The Town of Bucksport is highlighted in the most recent "Measures of Growth" economic report for rebounding from the closure of its major employer a decade ago.
Rich Rotella has been the town's economic and community development director since just after Verso Paper shut down its operations. He told Maine Public's Irwin Gratz when he began his tenure, Bucksport's industrial park had 8 vacant lots and there were 11 vacant store fronts on its Main Street.
But he says the town also had an $8 million rainy day fund, a great location on the Penobscot River and, eventually, an aquaculture company, Whole Oceans, that has plans to build a $250 million fish farm on the former Verso property.
Rotella says there are signs of rebirth in Bucksport.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Rotella: What I do see as a difference is folks are building. We had a 55-and-older senior living park — sort of like something you'd see down in Florida — was built out on Central Street. We've got another 14-parcel subdivision out on Bucks Mills, just a little ways down the road. Penquis CAP purchased the former Knoxview Apartments, and they have four phases, two of which are already approved for workforce housing and senior apartment living.
Gratz: In terms of jobs, again, the mill employed about 1,000 people at its peak. How has the town done in terms of providing jobs? Or where are people finding work?
So of the folks that had worked on their final shift, roughly one-third retired. They were at retirement age. Roughly one-third went to look for positions in other mills throughout the state — up in Old Town, Down East and, you know, were in Sappi as well. And then the other third [were] entrepreneurs. They went into plumbing and electricians working for themselves or finding other jobs nearby.
What about the plant site itself?
Whole Oceans owns the majority of the land. Since COVID it's kind of been on hold. Federal permits and state permits have been renewed and are active. Local town permitting has expired this past Sept. 3.
Bucksport, of course, is not alone and may not ultimately be the last Maine community that goes through this kind of a change. What advice would you offer to other communities that lose a major employer?
There's a time for grieving, but that time has got to be quick. You know, use your assets to your benefit. For us, it was location and the people. Partnerships and collaborations have helped every step of the way with the community. Because if you don't have willing partners, you know, climbing that hill alone is a very daunting task. The town does a lot of planning, whether it be housing studies, whether it be waterfront studies, whether it be transportation, broadband. There's a lot of studies on our website. And they don't just sit there. You know, the great thing is, we take action, we have a marketing plan, and we hired a design lab out of Millinocket. They helped us create that marketing plan. The town was successful in capturing a $4.1 million earmark through Sen. Susan Collins' office to address our town dock, which is currently a 315-foot seasonal wooden structure, it is now going to be a 400-foot, year-round concrete structure with ADA access. It seems like we do a lot of planning, but a lot of good comes out of that planning.