LIMERICK — Limerick Machine Co. Inc. makes parts used in home dialysis machines, and for other private industry applications. The company, formed about 35 years ago and sold in 2000 to Tom West, is also a third-party supplier of parts to the military. The company is doing well, West told U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, on a tour Tuesday, but not quite as well as in prior years. The company employs 29 people and had employed three more ”“ but when those three moved on, they weren’t replaced.

The federal government’s sequester, combined with other issues, has meant a planned expansion is on the back burner, for now. Still, on another note, West and his employees told the senator they’re hopeful that an expected order for new aircraft carrier parts will soon be on tap.

The company’s general manager, Steve Olive, told the senator that the average tenure of people working at Limerick Machine is 10 years. West, the owner, said new hires either have typically already had job experience elsewhere, or are trained on the job. 

“One of my best workers is a carpenter” by trade, West said.

Others at a roundtable discussion at Waterboro Town Hall following the Limerick tour talked to King about some of their frustrations finding workers, among other issues.

King had been on a tour of the Naples area, speaking with restaurateurs and other small business operators there Tuesday. He then swung by Limerick Machine, and then listened to business owners and others in Waterboro.

He pointed out the sequester amounts to $100 billion a year out of a $1.1 trillion budget. He said the sequester ”“ which he said amounts to 8 percent of the remainder of the budget once Medicare and Social Security are taken out ”“ “is not insignificant.”

Employers talked about the difficulties of finding workers, which is something King said he also heard from employers in the Naples area. Glenda O’Brien, manager of the Poland Spring bottling plant in Hollis, said her current workforce is “great,” but finding new workers willing to pull a non-day shift is difficult. The company uses a temporary service and hires full-time workers after observing how they perform during their temporary stints.

She said, however, that four well-paying salaried positions ”“ which require an evening or night shift and come with a 50-60-hour-a-week commitment ”“ are going unfilled.

Another employer said his company, which currently employs a dozen people and hopes to expand to 100, is having difficulty finding personnel, and he said health insurance rates under the new Affordable Care Act seem to favor the younger worker.

King asked if employers were experiencing “work ethic” problems and there were affirmative nods from many of the dozen or so employers in the room.

Aaron Anker of Grandy Oats, a Brownfield-based company that makes granola, trail mix and similar products that are sold to Whole Foods and other outlets, said he’s seeing a gravitation to the cities, leaving rural areas bereft. Grandy Oats employs 18 people in an old dairy barn and will be moving soon to Hiram, where the company will expand to the former elementary school. If a Community Development Block Grant pans out, they plan to hire five more people. Anker said he and business partner, Nat Peirce, buy maple syrup in Maine, but struggle to find a steady supply of oats from Maine producers, so most is purchased elsewhere.

King talked about the polarization in Congress, and said Sen. Susan Collins leads a group of 10-14 senators from both parties trying to “break the log jam.” He said he sees a glimmer of hope in that endeavor.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.