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Paper mill layoffs ignite an entrepreneurial spirit

New Hampshire Business Review, Mar 28, 2008 by Penney, Elizabeth

"We've been thinking about starting a business for 10 years," Mike Gagnon says. "But we didn't have the courage."

Mike and his wife Sandy are finding that courage as participants in a business planning course aimed at helping fledgling entrepreneurs design and launch their ventures. But these students have a set of challenges beyond the usual that face new businesses. They are laid-off paper mill workers and other residents of Groveton, a northern New Hampshire town that lost over half its employment with the recent closures of Groveton Paperboard and Wausau Paper.

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The loss of 400 jobs is the latest in a series of plant closings plaguing Coos County, where in 2000, 1,251 were employed in the paper industry. After a planned April 2008 lay-off in Gorham by Fraser Paper, legs than 200 such jobs will remain. With average wages of over $1,000 per week, these were among the highest-paying jobs in the county.

Job opportunities are limited, many have deep ties to the community, and the combination of a depressed economy and slow housing market make a speedy relocation impossible for most. Self-employment is an option that provides some measure of hope.

"This has been such a great group," says Nora Clark, instructor of the class, known as CORE FOUR. "They are all so positive."

Clark is a former commercial loan officer and veteran teacher of business courses. The Bethlehem-based Women's Rural Entrepreneurial Network, or WREN, sponsored the six-week course under an Economic Development Administration Economic Adjustment grant.

Lure of tourism

Tonight's task is to present short and succinct "elevator" speeches describing the proposed business ventures.

"In the spirit of procrastination," says Eric Caron, "I'll wing it." The group bursts into laughter. Caron plans to open a mini-golf business. One by one, the participants stand and present a synopsis of their dream for a new life.

With the uncertain future of manufacturing and the wood industry in the county, many are looking to tourism, another key economic driver. The rural, mountainous area with its lakes and rivers is a destination for fishing, camping, snowmobiling and hunting.

Mike and Sandy Gagnon worked in the mill for over 20 years, most of their married life. With two children in college and Mike's elderly parents living with them, the loss of both jobs on the same day was a serious blow.

The mill gave them a good life, Mike says, and there were no indications that Wausau was planning to close it. "Some employees heard about it on the news," he says. "At least they gave us three months notice." The mill closed Dec. 21, 2007.

Despite the notice, many feel that the severance package was below par. "In Maine, layoffs of over 50 people require one week per year," union president Murray Rogers says. "The maximum our workers got was 12 weeks" The union protested the package but backed off when even that deal was threatened.

Rogers now runs the state-funded worker assistance center, a post he will hold for a year. The center provides access to job opportunities and the myriad of state and federal benefits offered to workers displaced due to foreign competition. Under Trade Adjustment Assistance, up to $20,000 in training funds are available per worker.

"We have over 40 in training so far," Rogers reported. "Some have already found other employment, although many are traveling down state and coming home on the weekends. They can't sell their houses in this market."

Glad for the breathing room his position is providing, Rogers, a welder and pipefitter, doesn't know what he will do next. "I'm trying to look at it as a glass half full," he says. "I didn't dare to make changes before."

Mike and Sandy want to build cabins and a restaurant on their 300-acre family farm. They see the motorcyclists, snowmobilers and canoeists who visit the area as potential customers. "We're right on the Connecticut River and close to recreational trails," Sandy says.

"The restaurant will be called the JC Ritchie Tavern," Mike noted, "after the man who built our house in 1828. He ran a tavern and stagecoach stop."

Mike is in charge of research and planning; Sandy is working in Littleton, about an hour away. The first hurdle was met with the approval of a zoning change from agricultural to commercial for the piece of land slated for the business. The rest will remain in current use as forest and hay fields.

"I stood at the polls all day," Mike says, referring to the March 11 town meeting vote.

"Most people have been supportive when they hear our plans," Sandy says.

"I don't have any fear of failure. So what? We're already there," says Mike, adding of their plans: "All we can do is go forward and make it happen."

Paper mill layoffs ignite an entrepreneurial spirit

New Hampshire Business Review, Mar 28, 2008 by Penney, Elizabeth

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