🔒From the Editor: Northern Maine’s time to define its future

In the past 18 months, we’ve seen a range of changes in Maine.

People fleeing cities are moving to Maine, seeking out more space around them, a sense of community and a chance to work remotely or build their own business here.

While this is happening throughout Maine, there’s no place where those goals can be better achieved than northern Maine, which is at a defining moment.

In our cover story, Louisiana-Pacific is investing millions of dollars to modernize its Houlton lumber mill. That’s a legacy industry in Maine, but the owners of the mill recognize the need to adapt to the changing market. For many mills, it’s grow or die, and it’s clear Louisiana-Pacific wants to become more competitive. See Laurie Schreiber’s “Mill milestone,” which starts on Page 12.

Another legacy industry, logging, has seen a slew of longtime workers retire in recent years. Logging has changed, and the next generation needs to learn new techniques. Thankfully, as Renee Cordes reports, the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine has come up with a 12-week training program that prepares future loggers to go right into jobs. See this story and others in Renee’s “Regional roundup,” which starts on Page 16.

Eastern Maine Development Corp. has given a lot of thought to the future in northern and eastern Maine. Earlier this summer, it released its 5-year growth plan, which cites the need to improve broadband, public transportation, climate resiliency and workforce training. The hope is to entice young people to stay and attract new residents from elsewhere — with an end goal, of course, of improving the economy. For more, see “Northern Maine heats up,” which starts on Page 20.

Loring Business Centre in Limestone tops the list of Maine’s largest business and industrial parks, on Page 26.