Inroads built on Germany trip Fairfield heads recruit for biotech park

FAIRFIELD – Fresh from a recruiting trip to Germany seeking tenants for Fairfield’s biotech park, Economic Director Clyde Dyar said Monday that the journey was a resounding success.

“It was very, very productive,” said Dyar, who attended a European business conference in late November with state Rep. Paul Tessier (D-Fairfield), president of the Fairfield Economic Development Corporation.

“We made some great inroads with Ireland, the Netherlands, and have promises from two bio-medical companies, one from Taiwan and another from Greece, to come visit Fairfield next March,” he said.

On the heels of the economic administrators’ return, they were pleased to accept $950,000 last week from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

The funding was Fairfield’s share of a legislative initiative promoted by Tessier and passed by the Legislature last April that provides $5.5 million for building business incubators at three parks in Maine.

With the state funding, Dyar said another $642,000 in federal Economic Development Administration backing, and more than $100,000 in local money, will provide the infrastructure for the park, which will be located next to Kennebec Valley Technical College.

“We have a partial road. Now we need to finish the road, put in culverts and a bridge, provide electric service and get ready to construct our first building in the spring,” said Dyar.

“We should be ready for occupancy by next September or October,” said Dyar.

Telecommunications will be added as a final project, said Dyar, to allow for state-of-the-art equipment. The park, named the Thomas M. Teague Biotechnology center, will be run by a board of directors, which will in turn answer to the directors of the Fairfield EDC.

In addition, the center will utilize student interns from KVTC. Husson College will provide start-up businesses with development plans in exchange for research opportunities for the students. There is a similar agreement between the center and the University of Maine at Farmington.

Dyar said the conference in Germany was attended by more than 250,000 people from all over the world. The biotech park had a booth where “we met some very good potential clients,” said Dyar.

The trip was funded partially through a state marketing grant obtained by the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments.