MRRA collects $2M for TechPlace

BRUNSWICK

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority has won a $2 million federal grant package aimed at making TechPlace a reality.

The cash comes from the Make it in America Challenge — a federal granting project that includes the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and the Delta Regional Authority.

The money will support infrastructure improvements and renovation of Building 250, a former Navy maintenance facility at Brunswick Landing to establish TechPlace — an “entrepreneurial incubator space for businesses in critical science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.”

In applying for the funds, officials at MRRA warned the building needed at least $1.5 million for upgrades if TechPlace were to come to reality.

The money will be invested to repair the building enclosure, improve the space for “emerging manufacturing businesses” and to add upgrades to meet American Disabilities Act and Life Safety Code requirements, Steve Levesque, Executive Director of Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, has said.

Building 250 sits on a 3,200-acre lot. TechPlace has been allotted 93,000 square feet of space that will include a lab, office and shop spaces for a research-and-development or “technology accelerator” facility.

To match the Make It In America Challenge grant, MRRA, the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development and the Brunswick Development Corporation each pledged $250,000 for the project.

Southern Maine Community College, University of Maine, Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Coastal Counties Workforce Inc., and Maine Technology Institute are also working on the TechPlace project.

Of the total grant, $750,000 comes from the Commerce Department and $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Labor.

According to the grant award:

“These grants will .., reduce dependency on H-1B visas in four targeted manufacturing sectors.

“When complete, TechPlace will provide office, shop, laboratory and workspace for aerospace, aviation, advanced materials, renewable energy and biotechnology manufacturing. The project will provide customized skills training leading to industry-recognized credentials for incumbent workers and increase access to career pathways for unemployed workers through a ‘co-op’ education experience with a credential-based training model.”

“This is exactly the kind of investment that is helping bring manufacturing jobs back to Maine and develop new industries for our state,” U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said in a statement. “It will give the redevelopment efforts at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station a big boost. Converting this building into a tech hub will help create good-paying manufacturing jobs right here in Maine. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”

The business incubator will help create or support an estimated 300 jobs in the Brunswick area in its first three years, Pingree said.

“While this is good news for the Greater Brunswick community, it will also have impacts statewide,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-2nd District and a 2014 candidate for governor. “Many of the manufacturers and Maine businesses I visit talk about the need to expand the availability of training programs. This project has the potential to be an important part of efforts going on throughout our state to boost training opportunities in order to help our workers and businesses get ahead.”

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