By STEVE CARTWRIGHT
Staff Writer Monday, April 30, 2007

enlarge Staff photo by Joe Phelan

IN AUGUSTA: Ron Harris loads a casting into a horizontal milling machine recently at Kennebec Tool & Die in Augusta. He is working on a fighter jet engine part.

enlarge Staff photo by Joe Phelan

MAKING ENGINE PART: Ron Harris removes a jet engine part casting from a horizontal milling machine recently at Kennebec Tool & Die in Augusta.

At J.S. McCarthy Printers, work begins this week on a 36,000-square-foot expansion of the 60-year-old business, which specializes in high-end jobs for customers such as museums and fine arts organizations. They produce books, greeting cards, other printed work.

Rick Tardiff, president, said his Civic Center Drive company thrives by maintaining high standards and heavily investing in better technology. J.S. McCarthy bought a so-called perfecting press that can print both sides of a sheet of paper faster than the old single-side presses it replaced. That piece of equipment cost $2.5 million. Tardiff said that in return for a city of Augusta tax break on the current expansion, J.S. McCarthy has pledged to spend $10 on equipment for every $1 saved through sheltered taxes.

A new high-speed stitching machine cost the company $750,000, but it can handle 14,000 units per hour, while the two machines it replaced each operated at 4,000 units per hour.

At the same time, Tardiff has trimmed his payroll from a high of more than 190 employees in 2000 to 145 today. He doesn't like laying anyone off, but he said it's essential to preserving the jobs that are still there.

Many Maine communities have vacant mills and empty plants. These shells of once-thriving businesses are often victims of foreign competition and domestic corporations that shift their manufacturing plants overseas, where labor is cheaper and laws more lax.

Today's small, specialized manufacturing plants are a far cry from Maine's numerous 19th-century textile mills. The big mills were built on rivers, and on the backs of migrant workers, particularly Franco-Americans from Quebec. Augusta was home to several mills, notably Edwards Manufacturing Co., a cotton mill powered by the Edwards Dam.

Textiles, along with lumber and granite, were the backbone of Maine's economy after the Civil War. In the 20th century, mills no longer ran on water power, and scores of textile mills closed or moved south.

Also in the 20th century, granite was rapidly replaced by concrete, ending the booming era of quarrying, epitomized by Hallowell Granite Works. That firm supplied the granite for the State House, plus monuments and buildings from New York to Chicago.

Maine's lumber trade shifted to pulp and paper, and today, with offshore competition and out-of-state corporate ownership, the big mills on major rivers are closing down.

But small manufacturers with a niche are making it, supplying goods that are often unavailable elsewhere, or if available, are not of the same quality.

The Department of Defense is often a strong customer, and Tex-Tech, which occupies an old textile mill in North Monmouth, has lucrative military contracts.

At J.S. McCarthy, Tardiff pointed out that that he sold an old press to a Malaysian firm, and its operator there is paid $5 per day. A press operator at J.S. McCarthy makes about $17 per hour, plus benefits.

To stay competitive, Tardiff said, "the industry is definitely consolidating." He is pleased to see two of his children working in the business. He is a former owner of Letter Systems of Hallowell, which merged with J.S. McCarthy in 2000. McCarthy also absorbed Knowlton & McLeary printers of Farmington, Gannett Graphics -- once part of the Kennebec Journal -- and, in 2003, Graphic Color of Fairfield.

Wick Johnson, president of Kennebec Tool & Die, joined the then decade-old firm in 1982, and two years later became its owner. He employs 65 people and says the Church Hill Road manufacturer is profitable because it invests in "better technology." The plant was twice enlarged in the 1980s, and in more recent years, he took the firm through "some very challenging times" where he found new high-tech customers in the aerospace industry. He is proud that a U.S. division of a Japanese firm chose to buy parts from Kennebec Tool & Die. He believes high-quality workers and a high-quality plant produce world-class goods.

To do that, Johnson said, "you've got to invest. It's something you've got to stay on top of every day."

He said it's important to value your employees and to be selective in hiring them. He said the firm has prospered by adding key positions at Kennebec Tool & Die in financial and operations management, and sales.

The job isn't thankless: In 2002, Johnson was named Maine's small business person of the year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. He had been nominated for the award by Peter Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Thompson, referring to the Augusta area's small manufacturers, said, "They are absolutely very important to the community. They provide high-quality jobs and they provide high-quality products. Hopefully, we can keep them here."

Running a company, big or small, is stressful, but neither Tardiff nor Johnson are making plans to retire any time soon. As Tardiff said, "It's great to see someone come in here with an idea on a napkin and it goes out as a beautiful printed piece."

Steve Cartwright -- 623-3811, Ext. 435

scartwright@centralmaine.com