Sullivan & Merritt Constructors used to keep busy servicing paper mills, with as many as 700 employees working on masonry, piping, electrical systems and other projects across Maine.

As the paper industry slowly declined, so did the Hermon-based construction company's business, with its work force dropping to as low as 125. Several years ago, the company began to diversify to survive, looking to other sectors and countries for work.

That's how the two top executives of the Maine construction company found themselves on this week's trade mission to Europe, attending meetings, touring trade shows and forging relationships with top wind power companies in Spain.

"We're walking away with a lot of new contacts," said Lance Leavitt, president of Sullivan & Merritt, which has operations in Hermon, Gray and Scarborough. "This won't translate to any purchase orders today, but they're great relationships to have."

With Gov. John Baldacci's trade mission to Spain and Germany focused on wind power, construction companies and related firms - such as Cianbro Corp., Sewall Co., Reed & Reed, Sargent Corp. and Bath Iron Works - are heavily represented in the delegation.

Most have done some wind work. Sullivan & Merritt, for example, handled all of the electrical work on three turbines in Freedom, Maine.

All see the potential for wind power in Maine, both onshore and offshore.

And their visit to wind power hot spots like Spain and Germany, with the clout of the governor and help from state and federal trade specialists, shows how serious the companies are about working in the field.

"It's so new, it's like the Wild West," said Leavitt. "It hasn't been carved out yet, relationships are still being forged.

"I can see definite flow of business and money into Maine because of this," he said.

Over the past five years, 147 businesses have gone on 17 trade missions, four of them led by Baldacci.

According to the Maine International Trade Center, the missions generated $28.2 million in sales for the companies. Those are sales reported in the year after the mission, sales that the companies say were directly attributable to the mission.

On Monday and Tuesday, companies participating in this week's mission had 71 one-on-one meetings with Spanish companies - from equipment manufacturers to wind farm developers to investment bankers.

They met with companies privately in a hotel in Madrid on Monday, and with more companies Tuesday at a wind power trade show in Zaragoza. Trade show officials said the Mainers were the first delegation of American business people to attend the show.

Jon Lee, CEO of Sullivan & Merritt, said every meeting involved a potential contract. That's not always the case on trade missions, he said.

Cianbro Corp. had five meetings on Monday that made the entire trip worthwhile, said Ernest Kilbride, vice president.