Economy’s churning: Lumber yard deal, new public works site Two of Maine’s largest lumber yards joined forces. Hammond Lumber acquired EBS Building Supplies, with 10 stores — in Bar Harbor, Belfast, Blue Hill, Bucksport, Calais, Camden, Cherryfield, Ellsworth, Machias and Rockland. Hammond stores in Wilton and Pemaquid will be closed, with employees being reassigned. Hammond, […]
Economy's churning: Lumber yard deal, new public works site
Two of Maine's largest lumber yards joined forces. Hammond Lumber acquired EBS Building Supplies, with 10 stores — in Bar Harbor, Belfast, Blue Hill, Bucksport, Calais, Camden, Cherryfield, Ellsworth, Machias and Rockland. Hammond stores in Wilton and Pemaquid will be closed, with employees being reassigned.
Hammond, which family owned and based in Belgrade, has stores in Auburn, Bangor, Belgrade, Boothbay Harbor, Brunswick, Cherryfield, Damariscotta, Ellsworth, Fairfield, Farmington, Greenville, Portland and Skowhegan. Combined, Hammond will now have 21 stores and 800 employees. Last year, it had sales of $250 million, while EBS, founded as Ellsworth Builder's Supply Inc., had sales of more than $80 million.
“Our leadership felt this was the right decision and is a win-win, most importantly because it is a great opportunity for employees to become part of the Hammond family,” said Dwayne Webber, former president of EBS and current Hammond employee. “We share the same values and place a tremendous focus on providing extraordinary customer service. In many ways, it will be business as usual.”
A roundup of other projects
Meanwhile, Hancock Lumber, which has 15 locations in Maine and New Hampshire, has not been idle. Earlier this year it acquired Fairfield-based Mainely Trusses, a maker of roof and floor support systems. It has plans for two more locations of its home store, Home Again by Hancock Lumber, in Yarmouth and Windham. It has other Home Again stores in Brunswick, Kennebunk, South Portland and North Conway, N.H.
Landry/French of Scarborough will oversee construction of the new public safety building for the town of Wells. The $11.3 million, 40,000-square-foot site will combine police and fire operations at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 109. It will replace a cramped site that was built in the 1960s as town hall. Lavallee|Brensinger Architects handled the design.
Herbert Construction will manage construction of Parris Terraces, the 23-unit condo building at 60 Parris St. in Portland. Design is by Kaplan Thompson Architects of Portland. Developer Jack Soley broke ground on the project in mid-June.
Benchmark Construction of Westbrook recently completed the Carleton Street Apartments for nonprofit Avesta Housing. Archetype of Portland was the design firm. Benchmark has a range of projects underway, from a Northeast Air hangar at the Portland International Jetport to a Tractor Supply store in Palmyra.
Ledgewood Construction of South Portland is moving along with construction on the Greely High School Performing Arts Center in Cumberland. Ledgewood, which is led by CEO Peter Benard and President Peter Pelletier, has an extensive resume in education, including additions and renovations on Biddeford High School, Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School in Brunswick and an addition to the Harold Alfond Forum at the University of New England.
