Disappointment, optimism felt in Fort Kent, Presque Isle

Reaction in Aroostook County on Thursday to Bank of America’s announced closure of operations at two former MBNA facilities in Fort Kent and Presque Isle ranged from disappointment to guarded optimism.

For nearly six years the telecall center at Fort Kent was lauded as a top performer for MBNA.

Presque Isle officials said that while they had “only heard rumblings” and had received no official word about the closing of the central Aroostook call center, the city’s “very first response would be disappointment that the facility could not be maintained and operated as a function of the new owner.”

“Businesses make business decisions for business reasons,” said Jim Brown, the city’s director of economic and community development. “Obviously, the new owner has a different vision. We would certainly be willing to do whatever we can to assist in any transition if that’s appropriate.”

He added that the company in 2001 employed up to 160 people, and the building could accommodate up to 300 people. The exact number of people now employed was not known.

Still, Brown said the situation was not dire.

“Certainly, although this is not good news for the central Aroostook County economy because the jobs at MBNA obviously were good jobs and very important to our overall employment picture, I’m not at all discouraged about the possibility of a different type of operation finding that facility suitable for call center usage if the intent of Bank of America is to dispose of the facilities,” Brown said.

In the meantime, Brown said, the city will do what it can to help employees affected by the closing.

“We recognize that there will be some disruptions for the work force, and certainly we will work with the state to shorten the transition time to something that will not adversely affect employees on a long-term basis,” he said.

In Fort Kent, where an estimated 100 people were employed, the wife of a full-time employee, who did not want to be identified, said employees were told not to talk.

For Alex Haggenmiller of Eagle Lake, who worked at the Fort Kent facility for 51/2 years, the closing was no surprise.

“It was inevitable. I saw it coming a long time ago, and I have Plan B in place, unlike some others,” he said Thursday afternoon. “I hoped it would not happen. It’s just the way it was done,” he said. “We were told over and over again how good we were, how safe we were.

“In the end, it’s corporate America, and the almighty dollar governs everything,” he said. “It’s just the way it was done. We were made aware this morning that we are closing.”

Fort Kent Town Manager Donald Guimond thought maybe 100 people, full-time and part-time, worked there.

“It’s not a positive thing for the town,” he said by telephone from Augusta. “We have to move forward and look to the reuse of the facility.”

Guimond said the town would miss the company because it was a good corporate citizen. He said the company offered scholarships, helped with community programs, and over the years has sponsored local projects such as the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Race.

“We will certainly miss them,” he said, “for the jobs and their support.”

Fewer than 20 cars were parked in front of the Bank of America building on Green Hill Drive in Presque Isle on Thursday afternoon. An employee driving out of the parking lot stopped her car briefly when flagged down, but said she didn’t think she was allowed to give any details about the site’s closing.

“I’m surprised it happened, of course,” she said, “but I think that’s all I can say.”

Inside the building, a few workers were visible through windows in a set of inner doors accessible only by security keys. Personnel behind a security window in the foyer referred reporters to Gretchen Morris, a local employee who declined to give her title.

Morris would not answer any other questions and referred all queries to Alex Liftman, a Boston-based spokeswoman for Bank of America. Liftman did not return calls by press time.

Laurel Daigle, chairman of the Fort Kent Town Council, said of the closure: “It’s certainly not good news for us at all. They sustain a number of people, and those people will be out of work.”

Richard Cost, president of the University of Maine at Fort Kent, said, “We have quite a few students who work there. … It’s a great place for evening jobs, part-time jobs that fit well into student schedules.

“We will provide whatever assistance we can,” he said. “Students will have to look at work-study jobs or jobs in the community.” Nine or 10 UMFK students were working at the facility this spring, according to Cost.

The Fort Kent facility opened amid fanfare in November 1999 with 50 full-time and part-time jobs. The company promised that the 10,000-square-foot facility eventually would offer 200 jobs.

The company purchased three parcels of land off Pleasant Street to build the facility. One of the parcels was purchased from UMFK.