LINCOLN, Maine — Town leaders said Tuesday they hope the pending layoff of 20 to 25 workers from the town’s tissue mill is temporary, driven by market fluctuations.
But with an aircraft float manufacturer coming back online, recent expansions of shoreline zoning and several West Broadway businesses transitioning to natural gas heat this week, they said they see Lincoln’s economy remaining vibrant, even with the losses.
“Whether it is temporary or not, the town needs to keep moving forward to attract more business to town to employ people,” Town Council Chairman Steve Clay said Tuesday. “We are doing a good job, and we have to continue.”
The layoffs “are unfortunate, but again, Lincoln being resilient and all, I think we have a lot more to offer as far as services go, and are ahead of the curve compared to most [northern Maine] towns,” said Will Labrie, executive director of the Lincoln Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce.
Lincoln Paper and Tissue LLC officials alerted the state Department of Labor to the pending layoffs on Monday. Union officials said it will take several days to determine by seniority who will lose their jobs. The job losses come with the shutdown of one of the mill’s three tissue machines.
Mill co-owner Keith Van Scotter declined to comment on the layoffs on Tuesday.
The mill is the town’s third-largest employer and second-largest taxpayer, according to town records updated last month. It has 181 workers and pays about $570,000 in property taxes annually, enough to account for 7 percent of the town’s tax base, said Ruth Birtz, the town’s economic development coordinator.
The town’s top taxpayer, Evergreen Wind Power, pays $1.3 million in taxes. Emera Maine, the town’s third-most taxpayer, pays $153,155. Wal-Mart pays $72,136 and Gardner Land Co. pays $60,952 annually, Birtz said.
RSU 67, the public school system serving Chester, Lincoln and Mattawamkeag, employs 310 people at its three schools and central office in Lincoln. Penobscot Valley Hospital employs 223 workers.
Labrie and Birtz said they doubted that the loss of Lincoln Paper and Tissue workers will be entirely offset immediately. Most economists say heavy manufacturing facilities carry an indirect job creation ratio of about 6:1 for every worker they have.
But PK Floats, which closed last year when its owner died, is in the process of resuming manufacture of airplane landing floats at its Airport Road facility with 18 workers. New company owners hope to double their workforce in two years if all goes well, Labrie said.
A half-dozen new stores are open or preparing to open, offsetting the loss of the Sears hometown store that closed two or three weeks ago, Labrie said.
West Broadway will be widened next year to accommodate increased traffic and open new land for businesses, while Bangor Natural Gas workers began connecting several West Broadway stores on Monday, Birtz said.
Town officials are seeking grants to run sewer service to River Road as the next phase of town infrastructure improvement. They altered town zoning laws recently to allow restaurant and retail establishments along Mattanawcook Lake on East Broadway. They also organized an economic development committee with five subcommittees tasked with improving the town’s business atmosphere. The committee began meeting in April. Birtz chairs it and Labrie is among its 20 members, she said.
“We are trying to promote Lincoln from other avenues, not just Lincoln Paper and Tissue,” Labrie said. “If [the mill] stays around for five or 10 more years, great, but we are proactive rather than reactive. We have been that way” for several years.