Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 47 A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 1 9 25 of Maine that highlight the impor- tance of the manufacturing sector to the health of the state's economy: Annual contribution of $5.3 billion, or roughly 9% of the state's gross domestic product. 1,800 businesses, most being of small-to-medium size, employing more than 53,000 people with a payroll of approximately $2.7 billion (which accounts for 13% of statewide wages paid). Average annual salary is $56,400, which is 32% more than Maine's average wage in nonfarm sectors. Maine's pulp and paper mill jobs have been in a long decline since 1994 — reaching what everyone hopes was the low-point, between 2014 and 2016, when five mills closed: Verso Paper, Bucksport (500 jobs); Great Northern Paper, East Millinocket (200); Old Town Fuel & Fiber, Old Town (200); Lincoln Paper & Tissue, Lincoln (170); UPM Madison, Madison (214). But as Patrick Strauch, executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council, told a full house of Maine lawmakers at the council's legislative breakfast early this year, upwards of $600 million in capital investments have been made or announced in the forest prod- ucts sector in the past few years. Among those investments are the $200 million Sappi North America Inc. invested at its Somerset Mill in Skowhegan with roughly $175 million going toward a newly rebuilt Paper Machine 1 that adds new paperboard packaging grades to the mill's capabil- ities and boosts its global competitive- ness. About $25 million was invested in the mill's wood yard to optimize its efficiency and reduce costs. Another significant paper indus- try investment, which resulted in the creation of 80 new jobs in Washington County, is the $120 million investment in 2016 by International Grand Investment Corp., a U.S.-based company owned by a Chinese investment firm, to install two new tissue-making machines at the new St. Croix Tissue mill in Baileyville. And in October 2018, a newcomer to Maine's paper industry, ND Paper LLC, announced its purchase of the shut- tered Old Town pulp and paper mill just two days after announcing a two-year, $111 million investment at the Rumford paper mill it purchased in June 2018. e company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nine Dragons Paper, based in China and the largest paperboard producer in Asia. "We really feel like we're at the beginning of a big upturn in the oppor- tunities for the industry," Strauch said. "We need to make sure we've got good, trained workers, but it's an exciting time and we're part of the new, green forest economy." James McCarthy, Mainebiz digital editor, can be reached at jmccarthy @ mainebiz.biz M A N U FA C T U R I N G EXPERIENCE MATTERS 130 Years' Combined Experience PLANNING, PRECONSTRUCTION & ESTIMATING P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F S A P P I Sappi North America Inc. invested $200 million at the Somerset Mill in Skowhegan to increase production capacity by almost 1 million tons per year. Manufacturing encompasses 1,800 Maine businesses employing more than 53,000 people, with a payroll of approximately $2.7 billion (accounting for 13% of statewide wages paid).

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