There is life after base closure

Imagine if the city of Presque Isle announced today that it was closing its municipal doors and was putting a padlock at the entrances to the city. The first reaction would more than likely be “Impossible, can’t be done!” followed quickly by “How could the economy of Aroostook County ever recover from such a devastating blow?”

These statements were voiced ever so loudly on July 12, 1991 when the president of the United States accepted the recommendation of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission to close Loring Air Force Base in Limestone on Sept. 30, 1994.

Why the comparison to Presque Isle? The physical characteristics of these two locations are a mirror image of each other. Loring’s population was approximately 10,000 people situated on 9,000 acres, and its infrastructure and amenities included 75 miles of roadways, water and waste-water treatment plants, central heating system, fire and police departments, elementary schools, grocery and department stores, movie theater, restaurant, night clubs, hotel, day care facilities – living accommodations for more than 7,000 military personnel and dependents.

Simply put, one of northern Maine’s largest communities suffered a sudden death on one dismal day in 1994. As is the case when a loved one is lost, the citizens of Aroostook County mourned the passing of Loring with a mixture of emotions ranging from denial, to anger, to protest, and finally culminating in a sense of sadness that the quality of life that they had become so accustomed to would be lost forever.

The uncertainty of the future and the widely accepted opinion that Loring could not redevelop due to its remote northeast location weighed heavily on the minds of County residents. Thanks in large part to the deep-rooted “can-do” County spirit, our citizens dug their heels in and committed themselves to support the creation of a “new economy” that would not lose sight of the past, but would focus on an energized future.

Although we all recognized that our economy would hit bottom soon after Loring’s closure, as was borne out by an unemployment rate in our region of approximately 17 percent in 1995, the Loring Development Authority (LDA) resisted the temptation to find the quick fix that would not have long-term sustainability. Rather, we committed ourselves to the creation of a long-term, well-thought-out development strategy that would result in the creation of a diversified regional development project and complement the natural attributes of our surrounding communities.

From 1994 to 1997, the LDA’s board and staff, with the committed support of the communities surrounding Loring, devoted its efforts to building a strong foundation. Of critical importance to Maine taxpayers was the negotiation of a fiscally responsible property transfer agreement between the LDA and the U.S. Air Force, and the creation of realistic long-range financial, development and sales and marketing strategies. After 21/2 years of intense negotiations and creative planning, in April 1997 the LDA secured control of the Loring property through a precedent-setting property transfer mechanism that to this day has not been matched by any other military base closure community throughout the United States. The Loring Commerce Centre was finally given new life.

Although many envisioned these early stages of our development to be the most difficult, little did we know that we were about to embark on a sales and marketing journey that would be severely challenged by the perceptions that rural America “got electricity last week.” These perceptions proved to be reality in the minds of most site location decision-makers, but we remained convinced that economic growth could take place in northern Maine as long as we exhibited the highest degree of persistence, creativity and vision. It became clear to us that to create positive brand recognition for the Loring Commerce Centre, it was critical to attract a major private company to add to the legitimacy of the development project. Therefore, almost simultaneous with the April 1997 property transfer, we targeted telecommunications-based companies that we believed would be ideal in a rural location.

We correctly assessed that these information-age companies could thrive in our rural community, but we underestimated the challenge of overcoming false perceptions. Not only did prospective clients believe that electricity had just arrived, they also thought we still utilized the crank telephone from a farmhouse with a party line. After receiving 99 no’s, in June 1997 we met the president of a New York Stock Exchange listed company at a telecommunications summit in Atlanta who said “maybe.” After presenting a sales pitch and agreeing to pay for airfare, lodging and meals, a representative of Sitel Corp. from Omaha, Neb., visited Loring and our surrounding communities. This executive was followed by five additional site location teams, which culminated in an announcement in November 1997 that Sitel would establish a major insurance-related processing center at Loring employing 350 people.

This one case of a major business attraction effort has proved to be the catalyst that has resulted in more than 20 entities locating business operations at the Loring Commerce Centre. These tenants presently occupy more than 1.6 million square feet of facility space and will cumulatively employ 1,400 people, representing a 100 percent replacement of the 1,100 civilian jobs that were lost when Loring closed its military doors. Remember that 17 percent unemployment rate in 1995? The unemployment rate in our region is now approximately 4 percent, our workers are now being employed by a diversified base of employers, and for the first time in many years, our population trend is moving in the right direction. Who would have ever predicted on Sept. 30, 1994, that Loring would have been the catalyst for the economic recovery of Aroostook County? The answer to that question is: The people of Aroostook.

The second question is who would have predicted that the Loring Commerce Centre;

1) would be the host for two Phish concerts welcoming 150,000 “phans” and injecting $50 million into Maine’s economy;

2. would be the home to the Libra Foundation-funded Maine Winter Sports Center that is creating Olympic-caliber training facilities and programs in the sports of biathlon, Nordic and Alpine skiing and which will soon be host to World Cup and world championship events;

3. would be home to a joint venture between Telford Aviation and Volvo Aero Services that currently is involved in aircraft disassembly and spare parts re-manufacturing and that will transform itself into an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul center;

4. would be the site of an incubator facility that will be focusing its efforts on the development of small businesses in the forest products and agricultural industries;

5. would entice Irving Forest Products to execute an option agreement to purchase 400 acres of land and potentially construct a $120 million forest products manufacturing complex; and

6. would be designated as a Center of Excellence by the National Guard Bureau to perform military vehicle refurbishment and be Loring’s largest square-footage tenant at 383,000 square feet and employing 175 local citizens? The answer to that six-pronged question is: Nobody would have predicted it, but given the creativity, persistence, passion and vision exhibited by everyone who has been involved in the rebirth of Loring, nobody should be surprised by it.

Brian N. Hamel is president and chief executive officer of Loring Development Authority of Maine.