Local business leaders among investors who stepped up to save North Country jobs

 LANCASTER — A North Country manufacturer which was on the brink of closing now is enjoying a renaissance thanks to the commitment of an investment group that includes prominent Lakes Region business people.

The Gaudet Family Group is part of syndicate that acquired Pak Solutions this summer.

Pak is a manufacturing facility that had once been the backbone of the local economy, but by early this year the company was withering on the vine, employing a fraction of the employees it once had, and was heading toward closure.

This time, though, something different happened. Word of the situation reached the right ears, and soon a team of investors, all with personal ties to New Hampshire, came to together to save the facility and, they hope, return it to the position it once held in both the community and the plastic packaging industry.

Ron Demers, who has been the maintenance manager at Pak Solutions for 17 years, knew all too well what could happen in Lancaster. He came to the facility, which manufactures printed polyethylene bags, after he lost his previous job when the paper mills in Berlin were shuttered. At Pak Solutions’ predecessor, he watched as the overseas ownership group failed to invest to keep the facility competitive, and as dwindling business led to a staff that had shrunk from more than 100 to fewer than 30.

He was experiencing a kind of deja vu, waiting to hear that his job, and those of the rest of his remaining co-workers, was also lost because the plant was closing.

“Before the company was sold, it was pretty bleak. When the sale was realized, it didn’t sink in until we saw the investment that was put in,” said Demers. Now, with new equipment and ambitious, committed owners, he said the mood at the plant is, “tremendous.”

“In the last decade, this region has lost more than 3,000 jobs,” said Benoit Lamontagne, North Country Industrial Agent with the state’s Economic Development Advisory Council. “Saving the company itself saves 30 jobs that are already here, plus the opportunity to add 70 jobs, is outstanding for this part of the state. Every job counts. The fact that they’re willing to invest in this part of the state is a win-win for everybody.”

Pak Solutions’s salvation came in the form of an informal network of like-minded people, all successful business leaders who understood how important it was to keep North Country jobs.

Kevin Powers, who works in the plastic packaging industry, caught wind of the Lancaster facility’s tenuous situation. He told his cousin, John Shaughnessy, about his interest in saving Pak Solutions. Shaughnessy serves on the board of directors at the Tilton School, a private school in Tilton, New Hampshire. Rob Roriston also serves on the Tilton School board, and Shaughnessy enlisted him in the effort. Roriston, in turn, brought in the Gaudet Family Group, which operates the AutoServ family of car dealerships. The new ownership group took over the facility on June 1, 2017.

Each of the members of the ownership group said that they were won over as soon as they visited the facility and met the employees.

“I wouldn’t do this at all on the numbers,” said Roriston. “But we want to do this for the community. By force of will we’ll turn this around, and we’re on the road to doing it.”

“Our committed partners are bringing world-class operating standards, the best in new technology, and a passion for making a difference” said Donna Gaudet Hosmer. “It’s inspiring to be part of this.”

Under previous ownership, the Pak Solutions facility had specialized in the manufacture of secure cash bags constructed of printed polyethylene. The new ownership team sees opportunities to expand the product line to include other uses of polyethylene bags, such as for food or medical applications.

“Our biggest thing is diversification. In general, the plastic packaging industry is a multi-billion dollar industry,” said Shaughnessy, a partner in Pak Solutions. The new company will have an edge against larger competitors due to its willingness to fill custom orders and an ability to deliver products much faster than the industry norm.

“There’s a world of opportunity to put some of the North County ingenuity, North Country work ethic, to work.” Shaughnessy thinks Pak Solutions can soon return to its position as the cornerstone of the local economy. “We would like to double the workforce in five years. There’s real potential to do that.”

The facility on Page Hill Road first opened in 1990 and provided hundreds of jobs. Employment had dropped to 40 by 2005, and recently there were as few as 25 workers at the site.

Behind each of those jobs is often a family, one which would have to face relocation if they had to find another job – there just aren’t other comparable jobs nearby.

Eric Boisselle, a native of Lancaster, said Pak Solutions has allowed him to keep his family in his hometown. When he first came to the facility 26 years ago, he had a one-year old child and took a part-time job to provide for his family. Now print shop supervisor, he has five children and three grandchildren — and they’ve all been able to stay in the Lancaster area.

“It’s important,” he said about the role Pak Solutions plays in the local economy and his life. “It’s a steady paycheck, a steady job.” He added, “If it were to stay like it was with the old owners, we’d probably be closing.”

To Lindsay King, a sanitation engineer who has worked at the plant for 29 years, his job means more than a paycheck. “To me, I look at it as my third house,” after his home and his church, he said. “When you’re walking in here, they make you feel like you’re not a nobody, you’re a somebody. I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.”

Lynn Berry, head of shipping and receiving, has a similar sentiment about her workplace. She’s a Lancaster native who has worked at Pak Solutions for 15 years, and said there’s a “family feeling” at the plant, which is part of the reason why people who get a job there tend to keep it.

“The people that come here, stay here. You become part of a family,” Berry said. “I’m very pleased with what’s happening here. It’s very nice to have owners that care about us.”

Gregg Miller, vice president of sales, said he has already seen the company turn a corner toward a brighter future. “The company has been a staple, an icon, for the the security bag industry for 25 years. The new ownership group that has come in has revitalized the plant, saved the facility from sale or liquidation, and has made the investments to make us competitive in the marketplace.”

Demers, the plant’s maintenance manager, is excited to see where the Pak Solutions employees and owners can take the company.

“I’m looking forward to the future here, the town of Lancaster, Coös County, I think we’re going to make a big impact on the economy here.”

Members of the Gaudet Family Group and others gather for a photo on the day new investors acquired Pak Solutions in Lancaster, From left, are Paul Gaudet Jr., Hazel Gaudet, Paul Gaudet Sr., Brigid Gaudet, Andrew Hosmer, Donna Gaudet Hosmer, Scott Mosher (CFO of Pak2000, the seller), Carolyn Gaudet, Dennis Gaudet, John Shaughnessy, Kevin Powers (Pak Solutions president), Rob Roriston, Patrick Judge (Pak Solutions senior operations manager), Gregg Miller (Pak Solutions VP of sales), Ron Demers (Pak Solutions maintenance manager) The new ownership group is comprised of the Gaudet/Hosmer Family, John Shaughnessy, Kevin Powers, and Rob Roriston. (Courtesy photo)