Declining demand for leather products during the coronavirus pandemic is forcing the longtime Tasman Leather Group tannery in Hartland to decrease operations with the intention of closing the tannery in late summer 2020, putting about 115 people out of work.
Albert Alexander, 72, who has worked at Tasman Leather Group's tannery in Hartland for two years, wasn't surprised on Thursday at the mill closing. “How many mills have closed in the state in the last 30 years?”
Pat Martin, who has run the Tri-Town Food Cupboard next to the tannery for 20 years, said businesses will suffer as a result of the closing. “I think it will increase the food cupboard’s business, put a lot of people out of work, and it’ll hurt the storekeepers in town."
Ron Webster, 36, who works as a color matcher at Tasman Leather in Hartland, said he doesn’t know where he will look for work after his job ends in July. "I won’t get severance, but I will try for unemployment.”
Bob Tompkins, 63, was sitting in his vehicle in Commercial Street Thursday. He said the tannery closure will make Hartland like a ghost town. He was a flesher in the tannery. “I liked the job that I had in there. They do make good quality leather.”
Declining demand for leather products during the coronavirus pandemic is forcing the longtime Tasman Leather Group tannery in Hartland to decrease operations with the intention of closing the tannery in late summer 2020, putting about 115 people out of work.
Local & State 
