Technology center opens in Limestone

LIMESTONE – The rooms are empty now, but there was hope and optimism Thursday that the facilities now ready for entrepreneurial businesses will fill up quickly with companies wanting to generate new products for the agriculture and forestry industries.

The Loring Applied Technology Center, a nearly $1 million development at the Loring Commerce Centre, is the second of seven technology centers in Maine to open its doors to people with ideas and vision. About 200 people attended the opening ceremonies at the new center Thursday morning.

The Maine Applied Technology Development Center System was created by the 119th Legislature to permit early-stage development of technology-based businesses. The incubator facilities provide assistance to emerging companies during the early stages of their formation. The hope is that the assistance will enable tenants to conduct research, development and manufacturing of products and services.

The first center to open, at South Portland, looks to develop technology based on environmental enterprise. Other centers are scheduled to be opened at Sanford, Eastport, Rumford, Fairfield and Orono.

“This is an exciting and great event,” Gov. Angus King said at the opening. “The next great event will be when we come back and the facility is full of clients.

“This is an effort to support technology-based job growth in Maine,” he said in a 15-minute address. “This is ready-made space and is an open door for the spirit of entrepreneurship in Maine.”

Philip A. Helgerson, director of applied technology centers in Maine, called the effort a “community vision,” which is an “essence of collaboration” for new ideas, new companies and new prospects for jobs in Maine.

Stephen Levesque, Maine’s commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, was called the inventor of the concept in Maine, but he said he stole the idea from Nova Scotia after attending a trade trip there in 1999. He said the idea is used across the country. There are 1,800 centers like this nationwide.

“These centers will help growing, innovative business in Maine,” he said. “It’s another piece in our effort to develop research and development in the state.

“The Loring Development Authority took up the challenge of having a center here,” he said.

According to Brian Hamel, president of the Loring Commerce Centre, the development was nearly three years in the making. While the structure was part of the former Loring Air Force Base, it is a brand new facility.

To develop the center, the Loring Development Authority, with the assistance of the town of Limestone, acquired a $400,000 grant from the federal Community Development Block Grant program, and received $550,000 from the Legislature. The renovations to the facility cost $715,000.

The facility, which has a total of 42,075 square feet, has seven areas, between 2,000 and 5,000 square feet each, available to companies to set up their manufacturing services.

According to Edwin Nickerson, executive director of the facility, the center also has shared areas, which include 14,000 square feet of office space, a common loading dock, and storage for warehousing.

The center also offers the new business marketing help, business counseling, and conference rooms. It assists the emerging business through the early stage of its formation.

Included in the services are a shared receptionist, clerical assistance, and the shared use of office machines such as fax machines, copiers and computers. It offers low-cost rental space.

Technology at the facility includes world class video conferencing and Internet technology.

Nickerson, who hopes to have the facility filled by the end of the year, believes that a large percentage of the tenants will come from Aroostook County.