February 15, 2025
Business

Pinkham mill set to reopen on June 3 Forty-five workers laid off in February to return to jobs

NASHVILLE PLANTATION – Three weeks from now, 45 workers who were laid off after the J.D. Irving Forest Products Pinkham Sawmill closed in February will return to work.

Company officials announced Friday that the sawmill will reopen on June 3.

Two weeks later, another 25 employees will resume work at the company’s planer mill, which finishes the lumber for markets.

The Pinkham sawmill had been closed since February because of depressed market demand and prices as a result of the slump in housing construction.

Anthony Hourihan, regional manager for Irving Woodlands LLC and Irving Forest Products in Maine, said in a written statement Friday that the sawmill was able to reopen for a number of reasons, including an increase in demand for the quality of lumber produced at Pinkham, even though prices are still down about 25 percent from 2006 levels and fuel prices have risen sharply.

He credited Gov. John Baldacci and local legislators with “making our woodlands more competitive through an improved regulatory environment.”

Hourihan added that the company is “committed to a strong future at the mill.”

Second District Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, said he was pleased with the news, calling it “tremendous news for a region that has been so hard hit in recent months.”

In January, 70 workers lost their jobs when Fraser Timber Ltd. Sawmill in nearby Ashland closed its doors.

The state’s congressional delegation on Wednesday lauded a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor to reverse its earlier decision to deny Trade Adjustment Assistance to the Fraser workers, who lost their jobs due to increased timber imports from Canada and increased trade from China.

Enacted by the Trade Act of 1974, the Trade Adjustment Assistance program provides re-employment services and benefits to workers who have lost their jobs or wages as a result of increased global trade.

Ashland Town Manager James Gardner was not available for comment on the reopening of the nearby Nashville Plantation mill Friday afternoon.

jlbdn@ainop.com

532-9257


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