There has been widespread speculation for the past several days about what Gov. Paul LePage was talking about during his town hall meeting in Orono last week when he said a southern Maine business is about to shed 900 jobs.

LePage returned to the topic Tuesday morning during his weekly radio interview on WVOM. Other than his weekly town hall meetings across Maine, the radio appearance is one of the only opportunities to hear directly from the governor who has stated he will not answer questions from the media.

Asked about the 900-job claim by the radio hosts Tuesday morning, LePage said, “I’ve got to clarify. It’s actually two companies.”

LePage said he expects the companies to announce the job losses “in the next couple of months.” The governor also indicated that he’s had recent warnings from at least four companies that they might make cuts or fold.

Asked whether the Catalyst Paper mill in Rumford is one of the companies, LePage said no, “at least not for the time being.”

“I’ve met with all the paper companies with the exception Madawaska,” said LePage. “Right now it’s bleak.”

LePage has included campaign messages in virtually all of his public statements lately.

“As long as we have the Democrats in power, that’s not going to change,” said LePage. “They like flipping hamburgers.”