FORT FAIRFIELD – Maine’s congressional delegation, officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Northern Maine Development Commission signed a memorandum of agreement on Saturday officially establishing the Aroostook County Empowerment Zone.

Approved by the USDA in January, the Bush administration program could bring millions of economic development dollars to Aroostook County over the next decade to attract business and jobs.

Money started flowing into Maine’s northernmost county last April with a $1 million revolving loan fund. The money will be used to assist future business and community development projects.

Getting the federal designation, one of only two selected this year from 55 applications, was a four-year journey for the NMDC. Aroostook County is the only Empowerment Zone in the Northeast.

“This will improve economic activities in the region,” Michael W. Aube, rural development director for the USDA in Maine, said Saturday at the signing ceremonies in a tent outside Fort Fairfield High School. “The designation will allow local communities to decide what methods will be attempted to create sustained business and jobs.”

Communities involved in the Empowerment Zone are Caswell, Connor, Cyr Plantation, Easton, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent, Frenchville, Hammond Plantation, Hamlin, Limestone, Linneus, Ludlow, New Limerick, New Sweden, Oakfield, St. Agatha, Smyrna, Stockholm, Westmanland, and parts of Caribou, Presque Isle and Houlton.

The district involves 770.4 square miles and a population of 28,674 people.

“This is a process of change to attempt to stop the out-migration from Aroostook County,” said Robert Clark, executive director of the NMDC.

Between 1990 and 2000, Aroostook County lost about 13,000 people, about 15 percent of its population. The out-migration was one of the reasons the area was selected for federal assistance.

During that time, the county went through the closing of Loring Air Force Base and experienced a decline in its major industries of timber and potato farming.

The funding could amount to $2 million to $4 million a year for the next 10 years. The money can be used for services, building projects, planning and seed money for leverage. It can be used for social services, health care, education and economic development to help stimulate economic growth.

“The government is playing an appropriate role in helping communities to excel and grow,” Sen. Olympia Snowe said at the ceremony. “You have a tremendous quality of life and a work force second to none, and this will make a difference in Aroostook County.”

“It is the dawning of a new era for Aroostook County,” Sen. Susan Collins said. “It is the culmination of a lot of hard work by many people, and it will bring them together in a partnership.”

“It won’t happen from afar, but it will happen here,” U.S. Rep. John Baldacci said. “Agriculture is important here, but this will allow you to come into balance with the rest of the state.”

It took the NMDC three years and three attempts to get the federal designation.

In the past week, Baldacci announced that the House Appropriations Committee approved an appropriations bill that includes money for Empowerment Zones. The bill includes about $15 million for rural zones such as Aroostook County.