Potential buyer of G-P mill eyes pulp operation Workers hope sale will proceed before health benefits run out

OLD TOWN – If the sale is completed, the potential buyer of the Georgia-Pacific Corp. mill is expected to open the pulp producing portion of the facility.

“We’re quite optimistic that something’s going to happen with the pulp operation,” Daniel Bird, union vice president, said Wednesday.

Bird also is a peer support worker through the Bangor Career Center, which is assisting the more than 400 workers who were displaced when G-P announced March 16 it was closing the Old Town facility and four associated chip mills.

He attended a Penobscot County Transition Team meeting Wednesday and explained to team members that the major concern now for those who were laid off is that their health care runs out at the end of the month.

“They’re very concerned about what they’re going to do come August,” Bird said.

State Economic Development Commissioner Jack Cashman said Wednesday he hopes to have a completed deal by the end of the month, before the workers’ health coverage runs out.

A workshop to inform workers of their health care options has been scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 18, at the Bangor Career Center at 45 Oak St. Spouses of laid-off workers also are encouraged to attend.

Bird said he is concerned that some people are paying more attention to the cost of health care than to the coverage they’ll receive and wants to make sure people make informed decisions.

While some former G-P workers have found new jobs, they are in the minority, Bird told transition team members Wednesday.

Next to questions about health care, workers also are anxious to hear what’s going on with the mill sale, he said.

When the mill closed, G-P agreed to work with the state for 60 days to find a buyer. That 60-day deadline passed nearly two months ago with no sale.

There still is no date set for the sale of the mill, but state officials said Friday the process is ongoing.

“The prospective buyer – who I cannot confirm – they’re going through a process of crunching the numbers on their business plan,” Cashman said. “They have to make sure that the business plan that they have drawn up is going to work.”

That plan includes a host of items from fiber supply to transportation costs.

“The only thing that would tank this deal at this point would be if the business plan doesn’t work,” Cashman said, referring to comments made by a company official from the potential buyer.

“They should have a good handle on that by the end of the week,” Cashman said. Then there will be a few logistics to work out before the sale can be complete.

If the pulp operation reopens, Bird said, he expects about 150 to 200 workers would be recalled.

Montreal-based Cascades Inc. is believed to be the front-runner for buying the facility that was closed March 16.

Hubert Bolduc, Cascades vice president of communications and public affairs, confirmed last week that company representatives had recently visited Old Town for a meeting regarding the mill. Cascades produces, transforms and markets packaging products, tissue papers and specialty papers composed mainly of recycled fibers.

“We understand there’s some noncompete terms in the agreement,” Bird said.

Union officials haven’t met with any representatives from the potential buyer, but Bird said they expect to speak with them soon and are looking forward to the opportunity. Cashman said it could be as soon as this week.

“I’d say that things are working quite well,” he said. “I feel fairly good about this.”

Cashman spoke with the potential buyer this morning and said the process is continuing.

“We try to participate with them and be helpful,” he said.