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Saturday, October 2, 2004
Penobscots eager to get drug center
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||||||
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Also on this page: In Depth: Health Care Reform | |||||||||||||
INDIAN ISLAND — A state plan to establish a pharmaceutical distribution center here got a mostly warm reception Friday at the Penobscot reservation that is home to more than 500 people. The new business would fill a visible economic void on the reservation while providing Maine pharmacies with cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. The wholesale operation would occupy a building that once housed a cassette tape manufacturer that employed 100 people. Those jobs dried up when compact discs came to dominate the music market. Recreational bingo games and a birch bark canoe class are now held at the former Olamon Industries building, but no money-making enterprise has filled the main, cavernous portion for years. Under the plan announced Thursday by Gov. John Baldacci, American-made drugs would be imported from Canada in bulk and the Penobscots would run the distribution center. Baldacci is seeking a waiver from the federal government that would allow the importation. Other states have also asked, but none has been granted permission. Tim Love, an architect of the proposal who was the Penobscots' chief from 1980 to 1986, said he could not say whether the business will try to operate if it doesn't receive a waiver. In the meantime, preparations are moving forward on the reservation near Old Town. The Penobscots have received a $400,000 grant that will help the tribe figure out how to turn the Olamon Industries building into an appropriate warehouse. On Friday, a maintenance crew hauled out wooden pallets, collapsed boxes, shelves and other items that had been left behind. They were preparing the building to be examined next week by an expert who will advise the Penobscots on what is needed. The workers were glad that a new business may be moving in. Frank Loring was nostalgic about the hum of activity in the plant, where he fixed machinery and did routine maintenance. "There were probably something like 16, 17 mold machines in there, six cassette assembly machines. It was a busy place," he said. "They've been looking to get a lot of entities in here, but they just haven't had any bites until now," said David Pardilla, the tribe's facilities manager and public works director. The hope is that the space will become the workplace for well-paid pharmacy, marketing, customer service and technical employees. In addition to the distribution center, Love said, the plan includes a mail-order prescription service. He said the tribe is getting advice from the Pequots in Connecticut, who have run a similar operation for more than a decade. Love called the pharmaceutical enterprise a major undertaking, but said it would provide much less money than a casino would have provided. Grants now fund many of the tribe's programs, but Craig Sanborn, housing director and interim economic development director, said the Penobscots want more. "We would prefer to stand on our own feet and let our hard work generate profits and provide essential services to our people," he said. Vice Chief Michael Bear said he hopes the money could go toward additional housing, expanding the school system beyond the eighth grade, and increasing day care services and programs for the elderly. "It's going to do a lot," said Dave Almenas, a 46-year-old forestry technician. But, he added, "I'd rather have seen the casino happen." Staff Writer Ann Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:
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