OLD TOWN, Maine — The Old Town Mill is holding its grand reopening on Tuesday, August 13th.
The pulp mill closed in October 2015 and had sat dormant for years before being purchased by ND Paper in October 2018.
The reopening is expected to inject new economic horsepower into the Old Town area.
The mill is employing 130 new employees, who were chosen from over 1,000 applicants. Some of the "new" employees previously worked at the mill before its 2015 closure.
Brian Boland of ND Paper says the company is very pleased with the community's support of their work and the revitalization of the mill.
"The state of Maine has had some very unfortunate luck with keeping paper mills alive," says Boland.
"We've had so many shut down in the last 3-4 years and unfortunately those people were displaced and we had the opportunity to talk to some of those people at the shutdown mill as well."
"It's more than just dollars and cents," says Boland. "It's about revitalizing a community and injecting some life back into the state. That's very, very gratifying."
The mill will produce brown pulp, which is the material used to make cardboard boxes.
The mill previously made white, bleached pulp.
Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, as well as Congressman Jared Golden are all expected to attend the grand reopening celebration on August 13th.