BUCKSPORT – Verso Paper is looking to beef up the work force at its Bucksport mill.

The company is advertising for several hourly production workers and for a shift supervisor at the mill mainly to replace retiring employees, according to Verso spokesman Bill Cohen.

“We’ve talked in the past about the age of our work force,” Cohen said Thursday. “We’ve had some attrition and retirement. Most of this is due to retirements.”

Mill officials are still trying to determine how many employees they will need to hire, Cohen said. It appears the mill will need between five and 10 employees.

“We’re not sure yet,” he said.

The mill employs approximately 795 people, according to the company’s Web site.

The hiring decision is not related to the recent announcement that NewPage Corp. plans to shut down some of its operations, including one paper machine at its mill in Rumford, according to Cohen.

“There’s no connection,” he said.

NewPage officials said the shutdowns, which will eliminate a total of 660 employees at its mills in Wisconsin and Ohio as well as at the Rumford mill, are part of a restructuring process as NewPage integrates the North American operations of Stora Enso Oyj. NewPage bought the Finland-based company for about $2.1 billion in September.

Although the market for the coated paper produced at the Bucksport mill is generally soft at this time of year, Cohen declined to comment on market conditions in the industry as they related to the NewPage announcement or the hiring at the Bucksport mill, citing Verso’s pending initial public offering of common stock.

“Because of the IPO announcement, we’re in a quiet time and I can’t comment on market factors or production,” he said.

Verso filed plans for the IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month. The company did not initially disclose the expected size or price range of the IPO, but indicated the offering price may total as much as $345 million. After the IPO is completed, the company’s equity sponsor, Apollo Management LP, will continue to own a majority of Verso’s outstanding shares, according to previous reports.

The company plans to use the net proceeds from the IPO to repay debt and for general corporate purposes, which include expanding production capabilities, buying capital equipment and potentially making acquisitions.

In addition to the Bucksport mill, the company has mills in Jay and in Michigan and Minnesota.

rhewitt@bangordailynews.net

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