On April 19 it was announced that Pleasant River Lumber Company had been awarded a $4.2 million challenge grant from MTI (Maine Technology Institute) to be used in the expansion of two sawmills. The Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.0 program grant will be used toward a $12 million expansion at the company’s Milo Road location as well as a $20 million initiative between the Moose River Mill and Dover-Foxcroft locations.

Officials at Pleasant River Lumber said that they expect to see a 60% increase in production of the two mills, expanding from 180,000,000 Mbf to 300,000,000 Mbf. The company will add a high speed small log sawing line, new planer mill and continuous dry kiln in efforts to modernize and expand the Dover-Foxcroft facility. In Maine there is a lack of sufficient markets for processing balsam fir and small logs. Pleasant River Lumber hopes that by utilizing the latest technology it will help landowners in the state while providing lumber for the expanding CLT markets and bi-products for the paper mill industry that is slowly recovering.

Jason Brochu, Co-President at Pleasant River Lumber Company along with his brother and Co-President Chris Brochu, said that in the end the expansion would result in about 172 full-time jobs in positions including logging, construction and trucking. Brochu expects the Dover-Foxcroft expansion will be completed by the end of 2019 while the Moose River Mill in Jackman expansion is a little ahead of schedule.

The Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.0 program is financed by a $45 million bond managed by MTI on behalf of the state and approved by voters in June of 2017. In the final funding round Maine Technology Institute approved seven challenge grants totaling $10.9 million.

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