PORTLAND — Verso Paper’s chief executive said the company is closer to its planned acquisition of NewPage, a proposed merger that would create the largest single paper company in Maine. The $1.4 billion purchase would bring together the companies that employ about one-third, or 2,300, of Maine’s paper mill workers at Verso’s mills in Bucksport […]
paper mill
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Rumford paper mill recalling 41 laid-off workers for No. 12 paper machine
RUMFORD — Forty-one hourly NewPage Corp. employees who were laid off in February are being recalled to operate the No. 12 paper machine, Tony Lyons, NewPage spokesman, said late Wednesday afternoon. The No. 12 paper machine manufactures coated paper used in catalogs and magazines. “This is good news,” Lyons said. In November 2013, the Rumford […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
East Millinocket lays off 4 in response to mill’s nonpayment of tax debt
EAST MILLINOCKET — Town leaders have laid off four town workers and rewritten a job description for a fifth due to Great Northern Paper Co. LLC’s nonpayment of its $657,900 property tax bill, officials said Thursday. Two full-time Police Department positions, a part-time fill-in and a full-time “floater” in the Public Works Department were cut. […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Paper mill to add 80 jobs, 2 tissue machines in Washington County
AUGUSTA — Woodland Pulp will expand its pulp mill in Baileyville, an investment that will add 80 new jobs in one of Maine’s poorest counties, Gov. Paul LePage announced Wednesday. The company will install two tissue machines at the plant, a capital investment of about $120 million, the governor announced at a morning news conference. […]
Posted inBusiness, Franklin, River Valley, sj-web
Verso-NewPage merger could be in trouble
As part of the merger agreement, which was announced earlier this month, Verso Paper initiated a debt exchange offer in which holders of its debt would swap their notes for new notes with different terms. The results of that offer have not met the company’s expectations, according to a letter David Paterson, Verso’s CEO, sent […]
Posted inRiver Valley
MDOT reveals plans to rehab Upper Canal Bridge in Rumford
RUMFORD — Business owners, town and paper mill officials provided information Wednesday night to state transportation engineers about the planned rehabilitation of Upper Canal Bridge. The 260-foot-long span carries Route 108 traffic over Mill Canal, through which the Androscoggin River flows beside the downtown area. It is a three-span bridge with 80-foot-long end sections and […]
Posted inFranklin, River Valley, sj-web
Verso-NewPage merger could bring upheaval before prosperity
The proposed merger of Verso Paper and NewPage Holdings, announced on Jan. 6, sent shockwaves through the local and global paper industries. Verso’s stock shot up more than 570 percent, analysts started chattering about implications for the global paper market, and millworkers in Maine expressed hope the deal would improve circumstances for the more than […]
Posted inLetters
D. Breton: Economic developer needed
Time was when Rumford didn’t need economic development, since the local paper mill paid most of the taxes and offered jobs and opportunities. No more. The once proud town of Rumford is, at this point, only a shell of its former self. Most, but not all of this, is due to events at the local […]
Posted inFranklin
Sale of NewPage gives hope to workers, industry
The announcement of the sale of NewPage Holdings Inc. to Verso Paper on Monday has given people in the industry and associated parties hope that a stronger paper company will emerge. Verso Paper plans to buy NewPage’s seven mills in the United States, including the Rumford mill, for $1.4 billion. The deal, subject to regulatory […]