The Detroit of Paper

This chapter covers stories of how workers accommodated and rebelled against their employers, showing how the broader forces of capitalism were at work in changing the character of Maine's companies. It presents an understanding of the nature and ultimate fate of one of U.S. capitalism's lesser-chronicled industries, paper. It also examines profound changes in corporate governance in terms of the institutional forms of ownership and management. The chapter uses Maine companies as examples of the managerial era of corporate governance, where company leaders shared profits with stakeholder constituencies, their workforces, and paper mill communities. It refers to paper mill managers who directed resources into capital and technology investments to sustain the competitive strength of their companies over the longer term.