Editor’s Note: This story was updated May 12 to clarify what will be manufactured at Hancock Lumber‘s new Oxford factory.

Oxford will be the home of Hancock Lumber’s new manufacturing facility, which is under construction at 1280 Main St. and projected to open early next year.

The company is holding a formal groundbreaking ceremony from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 21.

Erin Plummer, chief marketing officer for Hancock Lumber, said 15 people will be employed at the facility, including seven who will transfer from the company’s wall panel manufacturing shop in Windham. Additional hires will be made for a general manager, designers, fabricators and a maintenance millwright.

Plummer said building components such as wall panels, pre-cut framing packages and stair systems will be made in the new facility.

The 44,000-square-foot building sits on a 12-acre property and was designed to accommodate future business expansion.

Documents included in the Oxford planning board’s site plan review package state the project is being financed by Citizens Bank through a revolving credit program set for up to $20 million.

The project was approved late in 2025 and Oxford issued the building permit March 13.

Plummer said Oxford was chosen due to its central Maine location and access to Interstate 95, which connects Kittery with Houlton and beyond into Canada.

The groundbreaking ceremony will include public tours of the facility, with food trucks providing lunch and refreshment choices.

Hancock Lumber was established in 1848 when it purchased a 400-acre timber stand in Casco and opened a sawmill. It operates sawmills in Casco, Bethel and Pittsfield; 12 lumberyards in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts; and nine kitchen-design showrooms in Maine and New Hampshire.

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