From left: Marina Bowie, Biobased Maine; George Lindbom, Maine International Trade Center; Brianna Bowman, Maine Development Foundation and FOR/Maine Program Director; Robert O’Brien, Maine Development Foundation; Craig Kerschner, ND Paper; and Dr. John Kettle, Natural Resources Institute of Finland (LUKE) (Photo: Maine International Trade Center)

The past few months have been an exciting time for Maine’s forest products industry.

On August 13, ND Paper hosted the grand reopening of the Old Town Mill.

“We’ve been fortunate to have many forest industry stakeholders and fellow businesses in Maine offer their assistance and resources. This kind of collaborative environment has made developing business in Maine a very positive experience.”

– Craig Kerschner, Old Town Mill Manager, ND Paper

Fast forward a few weeks, and on October 10, Governor Janet Mills and Finland’s Prime Minister signed an MOU to collaborate in the development of our respective forest-based economies.

Just a few weeks after the MOU signing, Dr. John Kettle, Director of Customer Solutions and International Relations at the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (LUKE), paid a visit to our state to understand Maine’s forest-related resources and meet with forest products industry stakeholders including partners in the FOR/Maine effort, and to assist with engagement under the new Finland/Maine agreement.

On the second day of his visit, Biobased Maine joined Dr. Kettle, the Maine International Trade Center and the Maine Development Foundation for a tour of the ND Paper Mill in Old Town—the first tour the Old Town Mill had hosted while their full pulp line was up and running.

Biobased Maine learned that with its current configuration, ND Paper’s Old Town facility can produce 600 tons per day of market pulp. Over time, they hope to produce 270,000 tons per year of market pulp to be shipped to their facilities in China.

Our tour guide and ND Paper Mill Manager, Craig Kerschner, also spoke about the positive experience ND Paper has had in developing business in Maine.

(Photo: Biobased Maine)

“We’ve been fortunate to have many forest industry stakeholders and fellow businesses in Maine offer their assistance and resources,” said Kerschner. “This kind of collaborative environment has made developing business in Maine a very positive experience. It’s clear that Maine wants to see ND Paper succeed.”

In addition to the support ND Paper has received externally, Mr. Kerschner also spoke to the efforts by Nine Dragons leadership to make ND Paper a positive and safe work environment for its employees, and to be a steward for sustainable manufacturing and economic development.

In fact, ND Paper “was founded on the premise of becoming a global leader in environmentally sustainable paper manufacturing.”

At Biobased Maine, we look forward to following ND Paper as they develop in Maine, and we continue to stay tuned into Finnish models of sustainable forest management and biobased-business ecosystem development as examples for Maine’s growing forest products economy.

Biobased Maine brings you news of exciting developments within the biobased industry. Biobased Maine also brings information about its member companies to local, national, and international conferences and industry events, developing relationships with other companies and potential investors. Join Biobased Maine today and ask us how we can assist with your business development efforts.

Posted in Blog, Blog