This is in response to the letter from Emily Posner, printed Oct. 2.

I respect that she has an opinion, but she is way off-base.

I am one of the faces of Poland Spring in Maine, and I do not have a token job there. Neither do the other 799 people who are employed by our company. I take exception with her view: “to favor a few token jobs and economic ‘development’ that only furthers an economic trend of sending millions of dollars out of state.”

First of all, we are citizens of the state of Maine. We proudly live here, pay taxes here and earn a good living here.

Our company protects the resources, because our business depends on a sustainable supply of clean, natural spring water. We do not want to go out of business. This is our livelihood and, as any business, we want to continue to grow.

Every business has some kind of impact on the communities in which they operate. People should take a closer look at the Poland Spring operations in the state and see how the company operates. People can go to the Poland Spring Web site and check it out.

We and our company are not monsters. We are neighbors, and we care about this state.

I think the Sun Journal editorial (Sept. 23) was the most balanced piece written about us for a long time.

Al McKinney, Auburn