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QUINNESEC -- During a time when the demand for paper products has dropped, many mills across the nation have suffered.  Verso Paper in Quinnesec, however, has not only managed to keep their doors open during these troubling times, they're actually producing more than they expected.

Though the Verso Paper Quinnesec mill is currently on their spring shutdown, that doesn't mean that there isn't plenty going on.

During the course of the shutdown, equipment will be cleaned and repaired.  This is also the time to install new equipment, such as their new washer drum, which just came in this week; took a year to design and cost $1.3 million.

The installation of the new drum will actually save the company money in the long run.

"From this washer, the pulp should come out thicker with less contaminants in it, which overall should save on bleaching costs and improve the environment," said Gene Pederson, pulp mill manager.

Last year, Verso increased its use of certified wood fiber from 60 percent in 2007 to 65 percent, surpassing their 2008 goal.  They're also continuously looking for ways to improve production while cutting costs at the same time.

"There's going to be some serious reinvestment here on the energy side as well, where we can produce more energy with the equipment we have," said Mike Sussman, mill manager.

This week during the shutdown, they're helping local schools, too.  High schools have come in all week to serve lunch to the 350 contractors on-hand with proceeds going to school organizations.

Verso employs 3,000 people across the country, and, though they've lengthened their spring outage this year, they feel that it's going to benefit the company in the long run.

"We'll run that much smoother, cleaner, easier and perform better cost use and with even better quality," Sussman said.