Gorham Paper Mill may reopen

[peakbagger]

Good news for the North Country today, the closed papermill in Gorham has a buyer http://www.wmur.com/news/25632055/detail.html.

This is going to be positive thing for the area and will stabilize the economy. The mill will be switching from #6 fuel oil to a blend of natural Gas and landfill gas (currently being flared) which will reduce their costs and air emissions.


Some other local news for folks who stop by in Gorham area for after hike meals, Crabby Jacks is closed and will be reopened under new management in a few weeks. The new manager used to run Wilfred's so I expect that the "Thanskgiving Dinner all year round" will again be availlable.

The other restaurant that is slated to open is the a smokehouse/pub located across from McDonalds (it was a chinese restaurant a few years back but has been extensively renovated). It is also slated to open for ski season.

Both are locally owned and operated establishments which is a plus in my book.

 

[MichaelJ]

I thought the mill was being demolished for a prison?

 

[peakbagger]

Hey Mike now that you are part time resident of the North Country , you need to get your local landmarks straightened out. The Berlin Federal Prison is in NE Berlin on the border of Success Township, Its built and waiting to be staffed up for 2011. Its visible from some high elevation areas as it has a water tower and looks like a military base. Adjacent to it is the state of NH prison that has been in the area for 10 years. Both of them are hard to find unless you know where they are. The old pulp mill in Berlin was mostly demolished a few years ago and the southern part of the site is in the final throes of permitting to be converted into the biggest biomass power plant in the East. The new powerplant wont replace the jobs the pulpmill had, but it will get loggers back in the woods. As the boiler will burn low grade wood, it opens up a market where there wasnt one which will benefit regional forest management in the long run as the facility has committed to only buying wood from sustainably managed forests. The city is also actively tearing down substandard properties and renovating others up to current energy code so while it may not be apparent to casual visitors, things are starting to look up after a really rough period..

There were no plans for the Gorham papermill site beyond hoping that a new owner would buy it that cared about making paper. If you forgive the minor rant, the prior owners majority shareholder reportedly had driven Fraser into bankrupcy as a means of dumping a bunch of debt and scr*wing a bunch of Canadian retirees out of their pensions to the tune of around 170 million. http://www.nupge.ca/node/2879 As Canada wouldnt do anything, the US Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation stepped in and is going to make up the difference, so the US taxpayers will ulitmately end up subsidizing the underfunded pension plan about 60%. With the shift to a lower cost energy source,the removal of corporate overhead that didnt really benefit the local mill, and a management that is focused on the local mill, there is a far better chance that the Gorham papermill has a future.

 

[MichaelJ]

Ahhhh...

 

[David Metsky]

Moderator Note
Let's steer this back towards stuff that affects folks in the north country directly, please?

 

[dentonfabrics]

The majority investor in this land is M&M Consulting & Contracting, Inc, a cozy little company from Jersey City, NJ, who have made their millions as demolition contractors. I'd be willing to make a small wager that Tony Soprano had at least a small equity position in this firm. I don't think it's a sure thing that a paper mill will reopen at that site anytime soon.

Still, you've gotta figure, why would anyone buy that land unless they planned to develop it for industry somehow? No one is buying land in Gorham to build condos, despite a river view.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. I always say, if you can't trust a demolition company from Jersey City, who can you trust?

 

[Seeker]

Interesting news! Thanks for the perspective. I'm really glad to hear things are beginning to turn around for folks up there.

 

[dug]

This is great news and something I feared wouldn't happen.

 

[RoySwkr]

Still, you've gotta figure, why would anyone buy that land unless they planned to develop it for industry somehow? No one is buying land in Gorham to build condos, despite a river view.

Actually with all the mills gone that might be a good investment, compare land prices with North Conway

 

[peakbagger]

There is plenty of housing for sale in the area at very reasonable costs. Unlike most areas there arent a lot of foreclosures. Whatever you do dont go by the realtors listing prices as the houses that are selling are selling for far less than the asking price. There is also a lot of land for sale, but the deals arent as great as there are long term investors that will tend to buy it if it goes below a certain value per acre (if there is trees on it, they will cut it and then resell when the market picks up). Dillon has a lot of cut over land for sale, but its pretty ugly as they cut anything standing that they could sell. The federal prison doesnt start staffing up significantly until spring so this is probably the bottom of the market.

There are also a lot of high end early retirement/vacation homes on the market, they are priced for folks who make far more than most of the local population.

The easiest way to browse what is availlable is the NNREN website. Just pick a category and pick a town. If you want to see some recent selling prices they have sold listings, but it doesnt give a comparison to the original asking price.

Anyone serious about buying property in the region should be aware of the significant diferrences in property taxes from town to town. It makes a big difference on carrying costs, although if its raw land, current use status keeps the taxes real low.

Like any region there are a couple of places to avoid, if someone is serious PM me.

 

[The Hikers]

Did someone say actively burning down substandard housing?

Beautiful view of the Prison from Success

 

[am&pm]

Maby Wang 2 chinese will come back!

 

[dentonfabrics]

Has anyone heard any new news about the Gorham mill? I heard the original deal fell through. Anyone? Beuhler? Peakbagger?

 

[peakbagger]

The deal fell through, immediately followed by a new deal with a new firm. The new firm is looking to partner with someone to run the mill, their speciality is scrapping mills. The reason the mill hasnt been scrapped is that there are environmental liabilities that have to be dealt with if the place is closed. As long as the mill runs, they dont have to deal with them. Speculation is that if someone buys it to run and then attempts to scrap it out, the state slaps a lien on the facility for more than the scrap value.

Fundamentally the place can break even and maybe make some money if they have the right markets. The upward trend in oil prices doesnt help but a cheap american dollar probably offsets it.

 

[Stan]

For those following the fortunes and misfortunes of the New England paper industry, this article in the most recent (Jan. 2011) Down East Magazine may be of intererst: http://www.downeast.com/magazine/2011/january/back-from-the-brink

In short, there has been a little success in making older plants and/or equipment more efficient, upgrading facilities, incorporating energy savings and production strategies, serving specialty and niche markets and various imaginative approaches.

Still, it is hard to compete with cheap labor and poor environmental considerations in "developing" countries but if a sticky high unemployment rate doesn't suggest that we fight for a fairer trade system, without sacrificing the respect we have for workers and for the environment, then I don't know what will.

 

[peakbagger]

There appears to be another group of investors that has agreed to buy the gorham papermill. It was announced today 2/26, but there were no details. If and when I get some, I will post.

 

[dclynch]

Natural Gas?

Where is the natural gas coming from? It would be great if natural gas came to the region. Much lower heating costs.

 

[Quietman]

Here is an article about the latest sale of the mill.

 

[peakbagger]

[Natural Gas?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where is the natural gas coming from? It would be great if natural gas came to the region. Much lower heating costs.
/I]

There is a major natural gas transmission line that runs from Canada via Northern NH to Portland Maine that runs through northern NH. There are some parallels with the Northern Pass project, in that the gas line was routed over a new right of way through Northern NH rather than following an existing route through VT. It joins up with the Portland Pipeline right of way in Gorham NH where its coaligned down to Portland. Unfortunately, the only taps on the line in NH were in Groveton and Berlin. There really is no local distribution, although the state and federal prison in Berlin uses natural gas. The cost to install taps and the low density population makes it highly unlikely that local distribution to households will occur. The new gas tap for the papermill also had limited use due to its location.

 

[peakbagger]

To close the loop on this thread. The Gorham papermill has a new owner and they are starting to rehire folks.

http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20110513/NEWS02/705139975

Adding a new tissue machine (to replace one removed by a prior owner) is real good news as it expands the markets for the mill making the plant more stable in the long run. Ultimately if they add equipment to convert the rolls of tissue paper into products it will further expand employment.