Former Owner, Officials Rally To Replace Bushmaster

With Bushmaster Firearm’s sudden announcement last week that it will close March 31 and lay off 73 employees in the process, the property’s owner, state and local leaders are scrambling to replace one of Windham’s best-known and most successful companies.

Dick Dyke, the former owner of Bushmaster who bought it out of bankruptcy in 1976 from a Bangor start-up and grew it into one of the most successful and recognizable military and civilian gun makers, is working behind the scenes this week with local legislators and the governor’s office. The group hopes to either find new employment for Bushmaster’s employees or bring another company into the 60,000-square-foot facility located in Dyke’s Windham Business Park, off Route 302 in North Windham.-[source]