Is Bucksport having a moment? Business growth spurt says yes.
While a much-touted fish farm has yet to materialize, local businesses are driving growth in this former mill town
Bucksport as seen across the Penobscot River. Photo by Nate Petersen.
By Emily Baer
BUCKSPORT—With nine new businesses in town over the last year alone, Bucksport is having something of a moment.
Even after summer traffic has subsided, Main Street is lined with cars on most nights and weekends. There are movies to see, shops to peruse, and new restaurants to try. The Hannford’s parking lot is perennially full.
None of this is entirely new, but it’s been a while. The town struggled after the area’s main employer, Verso, shuttered the paper mill that had driven Bucksport’s economic health for decades.
The closure left a scar that has been slow to heal but early efforts to resurrect the town brought forth a determination that has marked the area’s growth since. Creativity and collaboration between municipal government and local business is a hallmark of local efforts to navigate an ever changing economic landscape.
Building for success
The fact that most storefronts in town are now occupied, and that businesses are expanding in other areas of town is a testament to the decade of slow, steady work that it took to ensure Bucksport can meet the moment today, local leaders say.
“There's still a lot of ongoing work that needs to be done [so we can continue to grow],” says Rich Rotella, community and economic development director for the town of 5,000 people. “But a lot of the groundwork was laid years ago.”
When Bucksport’s paper mill closed, many feared for the future. But local businesses have recently been investing in a vibrant downtown. Photo courtesy of the Town of Bucksport.
One of the town’s landmark investments has been the industrial park. Through the town’s Business Assistance Program, owners interested in making industrial investments can access sewer, power and internet, and property. Growth has happened in fits and starts, but the campaign to bring business to town through the program has paid off: It is now home to half a dozen businesses and interest continues to expand.
Bucksport’s recent business growth covers a wide swath of businesses.
In addition to three new restaurants, and a fourth coming this winter, Bucksport has welcomed a recreational marijuana shop, two new retail stores, a beauty bar, an autobody repair shop, and a trucking company to town since the beginning of the year. More than a handful of these businesses have offshoots in other communities, or took the opportunity to expand by moving to Bucksport.
That adds to other amenities, including grocery and convenience stores, three pharmacies, ice cream shops, a movie theater, a park and walkway along the Penobscot River, and a newly opened museum honoring the legacy of mill workers.
“Bucksport has made investments in our infrastructure at a time when other municipalities may not have as much,” Rotella says. He credits the town’s decision to replace retaining walls along Route 1 and secondary streets throughout town as an example of how the town is making foundational improvements.
One thing the town does not have is an operational fish farm, something that has been planned by Whole Oceans, LLC. The company bought land on the former mill site in 2018 and said it would open by 2020. Seven years later, nothing has been developed. Whole Oceans recently said it was scaling back its plans, but remained tight-lipped on details, causing some to be skeptical of the project that once promised hundreds of jobs to the area.
Meanwhile, the town has moved forward with other improvements. The Downtown District Exterior Improvement Grant, which helped business owners make upgrades to storefronts, attracted investors and signaled the town’s interest in working with entrepreneurs. In early 2025, the town adopted the Downtown Bucksport Coastal Resiliency Master Plan to ensure that the community is able to adapt to and successfully endure changing weather patterns.
“Really, being located where we are is also huge,” Rotella says. With over 10,000 cars passing through town daily, and many more during the summer months, the appeal of direct access to consumers cannot be overstated.
“But what really makes Bucksport stand out is the people. People really buy in [to what’s happening here], and that's what businesses are looking for.”
The view from Bucksport’s downtown river walk. Photo courtesy of the Town of Bucksport.
Walkable, desirable, affordable (ish)
Longtime residents have always recognized Bucksport as a great place to raise a family, but homeowner interest in the area exploded during the pandemic, as it did throughout Maine and particularly along the coast.
According to Kathy Coogan, a real estate broker with Two Rivers Realty, the median price of homes in Hancock County is $447,000; the average sale price in Bucksport is $325,000. Currently, in what is historically known as the slowest time of year for real estate in Maine, there are over 30 homes active or under contract in town.
Coogan, who founded Two Rivers with her husband in 2009, has seen interest in Bucksport wax and wane over the years. What sets Bucksport apart today is its relative affordability, walkable downtown, and central location, she says. There’s also “the public library with many weekly events for children and adults, and the Alamo movie theater with weekly movies and other local events.”
“Bucksport and the surrounding towns of Orland, Verona Island and Penobscot have so much to offer home buyers for year round and seasonal living.”
Despite growing concerns about the prevalence of short-term rentals in the area, Coogan says that she and her colleagues are mostly seeing sales for owner-occupied homes. Still, Rotella says that town officials are seeing an increase in properties that are being converted into luxury rentals and short term vacation offerings.
“We’ve seen an influx of these kinds of properties, and we are discovering new ones all the time. Interestingly, a lot of [Airbnb] listings are showing up ‘out back,’ in the rural areas,” he says, with bookings available throughout the year.
The rising cost of real estate, alongside increased taxes, are a worry for longtime residents, who see both as a threat to both new business and the old way of life in the area.
For his part, Rotella is focused on ensuring residential growth in Bucksport can match the success of recent economic development efforts. “This is an area we’re looking to address. Most of the residential space in town that had been identified in 2003 and in 2017 has been utilized.”
If anything, it is the lack of designated space for new business or construction that could limit the town’s growth.
“There are two more parcels that could accommodate good sized businesses [along Route 1] and a few offshoots off of Park Street,” he says. Although there are several vacant retail locations downtown, “really, our most limiting factor is space.”
A proud history and a new perspective
“What’s happening now, in part, is because we’ve reached critical mass,” says Leslie Wambaucher, a longtime resident and former executive director of the Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. In the years running up to and just after the mill’s closure, Wambaucher collaborated with others to envision a new future for the town. She too sees what is happening today as evidence of sustained revitalization efforts over the years.
“In the past, even when the mill was open, there was an impression that you had to leave town to get what you needed,” she says. “We worked hard to shift that perception and create local retail opportunities.”
The community responded in kind. While there have been fluctuations, particularly on Main Street and during the pandemic, the momentum behind local businesses and the enthusiasm for annual community events continues to grow.
“Over the years, more and more people have come to the area and when they get here they’re looking for variety, for more than one or two places where they can shop and eat,” she says.
While development can sometimes cause tension over differing visions for the future, Wambaucher says Bucksport pulls together in the end.
“This town’s history is a series of beginnings and endings, and at every opportunity the community has chosen to come together and build something new.”
Another view of the downtown waterfront. Photo courtesy of the Town of Bucksport.
