Kingfield’s Poland Spring plant awarded best in the nation

U.S Sen. Susan Collins tours the Poland Spring bottling facility with the plant's manager, Cameron Lorrain today. The Kingfield plant was awarded the Best in North America by its parent company Nestlé Waters of North America.

KINGFIELD - Poland Spring's two-year-old water bottling factory received the 2010 Best Factory in North America award by its parent company Nestlé Waters North America.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins joined plant employees, managers, company executives and community leaders at an award ceremony and reception today to celebrate Poland Spring's newest plant's achievement as the best of Nestlé Waters plants in the U.S.

The plant, which started operations in January 2009 with 36 employees, has now nearly doubled its workforce to 70 workers and will begin operating around the clock, every day of the week, beginning next month, said the plant's manager Cameron Lorrain. The factory has been operating up to 18 hours a day, five days a week and ships 50 truckloads out each day of operation, caring roughly 70,000 cases of water.

"This is the most productive of Nestlé's 26 factories and it's because we have the best team of the plants," Lorrain said on a tour of the plant, "We came to Kingfield and found 70 of the best workers." Collins said the award is especially significant since the Kingfield plant is the smallest and in the most rural area of Poland Spring's bottling plants which means trucking for distribution in the Boston and New York markets is a longer trek. Despite this, she said, the plant has been awarded as being the best for its efficiency, safety record, environmental stewardship. In January, the plant received a gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The Kingfield plant is the first manufacturing facility in Maine to receive a LEED gold certification.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, Kingfield plant manager Cameron Lorrain, at center, and Brian Flaherty, government affairs director for Nestlé Water of North America speak to the crowd gathered for the award ceremony.

"Maine's dedicated and skilled workforce is an asset to any company," Collins said after the plant tour. She also said she was happy to hear that Maine companies were used in the construction of the plant as are suppliers, such as an Auburn company that produces recycled cardboard for shipping cases of bottles.

For Kingfield Selectman Mervin Wilson, it's the unexpected benefits that the town has reaped since the plant opened that are a nice surprise. Having job opportunities are important as is the tax increment financing agreement for the town, but there's more, he said. Through Poland Spring's community funding program, the elementary sports teams this year are continuing to play and the free bus shuttle from Kingfield to Sugarloaf still runs because of the funding help. Also, unexpected was the excise tax benefits of having the plant's fleet of trucks register in Kingfield.

To the employees who gathered to celebrate the award, Collins noted their achievement.

"It's incredible that it happened in just over two years. This award belongs to all the employees who work here," she said.

The work to bring the $60 million Poland Spring bottling facility investment here began years ago, said resident Jack McKee of Kingfield. McKee, Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of the Greater Franklin Development Corp., along with many others in Franklin County, had been advocates for the plant becoming a reality here. Today, they stood smiling like parents at their plant's latest achievement.

"I am so proud. I am more proud than I ever thought I could be," Hagerstrom said.

"It was seven years ago," McKee said when the bottling plant coming here began as just a whisper. One of the plant's employees, Amanda Kyes of Farmington, who was standing nearby said she had attended the University of Maine at Farmington and then got a job working at the Kingfield plant. "I want to thank you for a great job," she said to McKee.

Poland Spring employee Amanda Kyes of Farmington, is congratulated by Sen. Susan Collins at today's award presentation at the Poland Spring bottling plant in Kingfield. At center is John Goldfrank of Kingfield.