Many residents would probably be surprised with just how much manufacturing is taking place in Maine.
Sure, we hear a lot about well known, large scale operations such as L.L.Bean, Poland Spring and General Dynamics, which are awe inspiring and jaw dropping in scope, but we have many small and medium sized companies providing awesome products and services.
John Balentine, a former managing editor for the Lakes Region Weekly, lives in Windham.
From clothing and cell antenna manufacturers to boat builders and gun makers, Maine may be tucked away in the northeast corner of the nation, but it’s smack-dab in the middle of the manufacturing action.
In the Age of Pandemic, Maine has several biotechnology companies leading the way when it comes to battling the coronavirus. I was made aware of this fact watching April 19’s episode of CNBC’s “Mad Money” when Maine-based Puritan Medical Products was featured.
Puritan, based in Guilford, northwest of Bangor, is celebrating its 100th year in business. It is one of a handful of diagnostic swab-makers in the entire world. Last week, the company shipped 1.5 million swabs to the healthcare industry. But thanks to a partnership with the federal government, made possible by the Defense Production Act, Puritan will soon provide up to 50 million swabs per week.
This means the family owned, private company is basically manufacturing every swab medical providers are using to diagnose COVID-19. That is truly amazing. They are located in the heart of Maine’s wood products region, and they are hard at work making wood-derived products to help fight the virus.
Puritan’s Executive Vice President of Global Sales Timothy Templet was enthusiastic and humble (typical Mainer attributes, I’d say) during the interview with “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer. When Cramer asked him how the company was handling the sudden increase in production, Templet credited the success to “a lot of Maine ingenuity.”
Templet was referring to a partnership with Pittsfield-based Cianbro Corp., which is building a new facility with two new assembly lines for Puritan. The work should be complete within six quick weeks, Templet said.
To handle the increased production needs, Templet said the company has hired 50 new employees in the last three weeks and would hire an additional 130 people in coming weeks.
Puritan is one Maine business stepping up to the COVID-19 challenge, but so is Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories, which has a production location in Scarborough.
The Scarborough plant, according to an article in MaineBiz, is manufacturing 50,000 COVID-19 test kits per day. These are the ones you’ve heard about, with drastically reduced testing times: five minutes for a positive result and 13 minutes for a negative one. They made news a few weeks ago, and Mainers should be proud the rapid tests come from here.
According to MaineBiz, the Scarborough lab is the only one in Abbott’s sprawling worldwide operation actually making the rapid tests.
Maine’s biotech field, according to the article, has other players battling COVID-19. These include Enercon Technologies in Gray, which is manufacturing diagnostic medical devices; Jackson Labs in Bar Harbor, which is breeding genetically modified mice to be used by researchers around the world trying to find a cure for the disease; the Baker Co. in Sanford, which makes lab-specific cabinetry, and BBI Solutions in Portland, which makes testing reagent products that quicken test results.
We’re always proud to live in Maine. But, during the pandemic, we can take even more pride knowing Pine Tree Staters are playing such an outsized and important role.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
