Old Town mill deal elicits mixed response

OLD TOWN – As news of the sale of Georgia-Pacific circulated Monday, residents expressed a mix of surprise and trepidation over what the deal will mean for a city that relies so heavily on one paper mill.

“I don’t know much, but it looks pretty bad,” said Ernestine White, a part-time clerk at the Old Town Public Library. “There has been so much change already, and it’s kind of depressing because the town really depends on that mill.”

White should know. She has lived in Old Town for more than 50 years, and her son worked at the mill for 20 years until he was laid off two years ago.

He now works in Las Vegas.

“He picked a good time to get out I guess,” she said while working the checkout desk at the library Monday afternoon.

Though it has changed owners numerous times over the years, the mill still employs more than 400 people.

It is Old Town’s largest employer and taxpayer. The plant makes paper towels and bath tissue.

Word of the sale, announced Sunday, comes just a month after Atlanta-based G-P announced that about 50 Old Town workers would be laid off. G-P had opted to shut down all lines that convert large rolls of paper product at the mill.

“We haven’t heard too much this morning, so it’s too early to tell,” said Steve Baillargeon, president of Penobscot County Federal Credit Union on Main Street, where he said a hefty percentage of mill employees have been doing business for years.

Baillargeon said the sale could end up being a blessing.

“It could be the best thing for the mill. It has been in turmoil for quite a while,” he said, referring to recent transitions in the paper industry. The Old Town mill itself was acquired by G-P in a December 2000 purchase from Fort James Corp.

Farther down Main Street, at Old Town Canoe, the city’s second-largest employer, the news was welcomed by at least one worker.

“I think it’s good for Old Town; look at the jobs [the mill] has lost since Georgia-Pacific took over,” said Bill Bradley, who worked at the paper mill for 39 years before retiring in 1989. He now works part time at Old Town Canoe.

“I don’t know much about [Koch], but it’s a big enough company. It should do all right,” Bradley said. “They can’t be any worse” than G-P.

Some in the town were a little less sanguine.

Two auto mechanics working Monday at Skip’s Auto Repair about a half-mile from the G-P mill said the news didn’t sound good. They should know; both are mill employees.

“I’ve already gotten a letter about being laid off,” said one man, who declined to give his name.