BAILEYVILLE – Pending layoffs for 102 employees of Louisiana-Pacific Corp.’s oriented strand board mill have caused area agencies that ordinarily respond to the needs of displaced workers to think well beyond Baileyville.

If other companies within Washington County lay off workers in the coming years, the transitional team that is now ready to guide Baileyville workers could shift to quickly help those workers in other industries and towns also regaining their footing.

That was the emphasis expressed Tuesday at a meeting of a dozen agencies and individuals who are in positions to make job losses easier on families and communities.

L-P announced the layoffs last month. Production of the building product was curtailed starting Nov. 8, and layoffs are set to begin Nov. 19.

On Tuesday, workers heard from state and local officials in a rapid-response format on how they can apply for benefits to carry them through coming months.

“It’s important to have the rapid response,” said Rosemary Winslow of the office of 2nd District U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud. “But their transition to possibly having to find other work will be more difficult. It’s not just about now, it’s the extended period.”

Winslow, plus representatives from the offices of Maine’s two U.S. senators, made it clear that if the Baileyville plant closure is a sign of the economy ahead, there needs to be some preparedness among all counties statewide to provide services for the suddenly unemployed.

“This is a tough time for the area,” said Jonathan Ford of the office of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. “All we can do is bring the players together. The community involvement is what makes this happen.”

Winslow, Ford and Gail Kelly, the regional director for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, are working together to help groups statewide be ready to assist the unemployed well before more companies and towns endure economic hardships.

They want to base what takes place in Baileyville on how a transitional team in Brewer responded to helping displaced workers from Eastern Fine Paper Co. find new jobs earlier this year.

The Baileyville workers will find resources and retraining through Washington County Community College, among other options, they said. Something they want to put in place soon is a job seekers’ resource guide for Washington County, similar to what was published for Penobscot County workers.

The Louisiana-Pacific shutdown affects both hourly workers and salaried management. It is being blamed on poor market conditions and raw material costs.

Company officials said in late October that the mill will start up when market conditions allow. But workers have told some service providers that they sense this closure may be permanent.

Seasonal shutdowns have occurred for the past six years, Baileyville Town Manager Scott Harriman noted. Last winter’s was the longest, when workers laid off in December did not return until May.

Harriman had worked as Louisiana-Pacific’s human resources manager before starting his new position last month. He said towns far beyond Baileyville will be affected by the current layoffs.

“Workers drive here from 15 or 20 towns,” Harriman said, “from Danforth down to Whiting and Lubec.”

Used to earning between $12 and $14 per hour in their mill jobs, the workers face a depressed local economy where $8 an hour beyond the mill is typical local pay.

The Calais area also has the highest unemployment rate in the area, according to Donald Rice of the Maine Career Center in Calais, a state Department of Labor program. The latest figures for August show an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent for Calais vs. a statewide rate of 3.4 percent.