MAINE PUBLIC • October 12, 2022
One morning at the Irving sawmill in Ashland late last month, hundreds of logs were moving through a mechanical sorting machine the size of a high school swimming pool, tumbling into enormous metal hoppers before being whisked away on a conveyor belt to be processed. The mill produces around 500,000 board feet of lumber every day. It could increase that output to nearly 600,000 board feet, said human resource manager Doug Cyr, if not for staffing shortages. To address the shrinking workforce in the County, a group of business and education leaders is pursuing a plan to attract families to the area. And more specifically, refugee families.