WISCASSET

Town officials remain in wait mode regarding a tax-abatement offer to Mölnlycke Health Care, which plans to expand either its Wiscasset or Brunswick facility.

Town Manager Laurie Smith provided the board with an update on the Mölnlycke situation Tuesday night.

Selectmen decided last month to grant the company another tax-increment financing deal to cover a proposed 32,000-squarefoot expansion which in the next three years could add 30 jobs to the existing 70 positions it has at its Rynel facility in town.

Wiscasset already has a TIF deal that returns 50 percent of property taxes on the existing Rynel plant.

“I think the town has done what it can at this point,” said Ed Polewarczyk, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. “The ball’s in Mölnlycke’s court at this point.”

Mölnlycke, which manufactures wound dressings and other medical material, recently built a new facility that will employ 45 people at the former naval base in Brunswick.

James Detert, Mölnlycke’s business development director, said the Swedenbased company should make a decision between Wiscasset and Brunswick by the end of the month.

“We are keeping both options open,” Detert said. “There are pros and cons to both sites.”

Last year, Mölnlycke acquired Brennan Medical, a company in St. Paul, Minn., that manufactures medical products for burn victims.

Assimilating Brennan Medical operations would cost between $6 million and $7 million, and immediately add 10 jobs with plans to add as many as 20 more in the next three to five years, Detert said.

In Wiscasset, the company would build a 32,000-square-foot expansion on an existing building that covers 40,000 square feet.

Mölnlycke would construct a new 25,000-square-foot building near its existing facility in Brunswick.

Brunswick also has a 20-year TIF deal with Mölnlycke, which could return $13 million to the company.

lgrard@timesrecord.com