PATTEN — Some good news may be on the horizon for Patten.
Appalachian Engineered Floors, a division of Anderson Hardwood Floors, is making plans to open
Katahdin Wood Products in mill space formerly occupied by Calley & Currier. Katahdin Wood Products could potentially employ between 20 and 30 people in the mill.

Don Finkell, a CEO with the South Carolina company, said Monday that they’re in the process of buying logs for the plant. They’ve hired back some of the previous management and they’re hoping to bring some new technology to the veneer mill. Target date for opening is June 1, said Finkell.

The Patten site would be the company’s 11th U.S. plant. Finkell said some of their other plants employ up to 400 workers. This operation would start on smaller scale with the goal of adding more employees as the plant grows.

Rhonda Harvey, Patten’s recently-retired town manager, said she’s been talking to the company for about three months and is still helping pursue a business assistance grant from Maine’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. A public hearing on the grant is scheduled for Jan. 31.

“I don’t have all the specifics,” said Harvey in a phone interview Monday. “But the maximum you can get [with the grant] is $400,000 and I’m thinking that’s what they’re going to go for.”

The money could help Katahdin Wood Products with some new equipment purchases, building renovations and more. The deadline for filing the grant application is in February.

That’s good news for the Patten area which has suffered the loss of some of its other mills in recent years. Harvey feels optimistic about this new opportunity.

“This is a good, solid company. They own mills all over the U.S.,” she said. “It’s going to be so beneficial for the community. … The governor’s office has pledged their full support behind it. So, we’re hopeful that everything will come together the way we want it.”

Calley & Currier, the wood mill previously occupying the site off Route 11, had gone through
bankruptcy, said Harvey, and been vacant for about a year.

The public hearing on the business assistance grant application will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at the Patten Parks and Recreation building.