A South Portland man is considering the Katahdin region, where more than 1,000 Great Northern Paper workers have been idle for 83 days, as a potential location to expand his business of remanufacturing transmissions.

Mark Duval, co-owner of New England Transmission, is looking at potential sites in the region today. The region’s big drawing card for Duval is its available labor force. “They are hardworking and have good work ethics,” he said. “Most trades people are independent thinkers, you don’t need to lead them every step of the way. They have some resources they can bring to the table for us.”

Duval said he wasn’t making any promises, but was looking in the Millinocket area to see what potential sites might be available. Duval and his partner, Mark Pelkey, purchased the 30-year-old New England Transmission last year. The men want to expand their business, which would employ an additional 20 to 25 people. The company’s pay rates range from $10 to $15 an hour with benefits.

The South Portland man wants to expand his markets into other New England states and Canada. Currently, the men are looking for a 20,000-square-foot building on a site that has room for future expansion.

The 45-year-old Duval started his own business out of a small two-bay gas station in 1985. Duval’s Service Center soon grew to three bays, and his reputation grew as well. Duval was nominated as the automotive technician of the year in 1995 for his Automotive Service Excellence and was voted the most honest garage for five years running by the Casco Bay Weekly. He was heavily involved in state efforts to reduce auto emissions. His business did so well, he moved to larger quarters two years ago. Last year, Duval and Pelkey purchased New England Transmission, which has locations in South Portland and Bangor.

Today his businesses employ 34 people and have sales of more than $3 million a year.

Duval has come up with another way to rebuild transmissions that takes a lot less time. He can remanufacture between 10 and 15 a day, compared with the traditional four to six a day. “That is not really going full bore,” he said. “It is working better than we thought. We are looking to model this manufacturing process somewhere in the state.”

Duval said the company needs to expand, but can’t do it in the space it currently occupies, and needs more capital as well. He said the demand was growing. New England Transmission is the largest company in the state using his process for remanufacturing transmissions. He said his closest competitors were in the Midwest or on the West Coast.

Duval sees a lot of growth potential in his business. Last week, he toured a plant in Jasper, Ind., where one of the engine-transmission company’s buildings covered 9 acres and employs 1,200 to 1,600 people.

Duval, who has been watching the events at Great Northern, credits Rep. Michael Michaud and Gov. John Baldacci for pointing him to the Millinocket area.

Michaud, who recently toured Duval’s business, said it would be a great fit for displaced workers in the Katahdin region.

Michaud, who last month was appointed to the Small Business Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, said he recognizes the need for economic diversification in many areas within his district and he pledged to continue acting as their ambassador to business.