Verso Paper has abruptly announced that it will close its Bucksport mill and lay off about 570 workers by the end of the year, much to the surprise of local and state officials.
Dave Patterson, Verso’s CEO and president, said in a statement Wednesday obtained by the Bangor Daily News that the Bucksport mill, the town’s largest taxpayer, “has not been profitable for a number of years, in spite of our employees’ dedicated efforts to make it so.”
The layoffs will not happen until the mill’s planned closure on Dec. 1. An adjacent power-generation plant owned by Verso will not be impacted.
Bob Mundy, Verso’s senior vice president and CFO, told the BDN that the Bucksport mill closure will have no impact on Verso’s mill in Jay or the company’s planned acquisition of NewPage.
Gov. Paul LePage said in a prepared statement that he and economic development officials will be in the region Thursday to work with Verso and other impacted parties.
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