Westphal pushes $60M bond proposal

BANGOR – University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal took his case for a $60 million research and development bond issue on the road Thursday, urging key business leaders to “think big” so the state doesn’t become “only the playground of the rich [and] the nursing home of the elderly.”

The bond proposal, which residents will consider in a June 10 referendum, is designed to rev up Maine’s faltering economy and spin off new jobs by promoting research and development.

Matched by $134 million in additional public and private spending, if approved, the package is expected to generate almost $200 million in new investment. It would help create more than 4,000 jobs, and lead to an additional economic output of $335 million, including $117 million in salaries, Westphal said during a morning meeting of the Action Committee of 50 at Husson College.

The bond calls for:

. $6 million to provide grants and loans to municipalities for public facilities and infrastructure;

. $6 million to expand the Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center at the University of Maine;

. $3 million to expand technology in UMS;

. $3.6 million in anticipation of $12 million in federal and private matching fund for UMS research and development;

. $4.4 million to expand research and development facilities at the University of Southern Maine;

. $1 million in anticipation of an equal amount of federal and private funding for grants to nonprofit marine institutions for research and development;

. $20 million for medical research and development by Maine-based biomedical research institutions, which would result in $100 million in federal and private funds;

. $2 million for the state’s applied technology development centers;

. $3 million to design and construct a Gulf of Maine Research Laboratory;

. $2 million to support the Maine Farms for the Future Program;

. $1 million for University of Maine agricultural research farms;

. $8 million to leverage $21 million in federal and private funds for affordable housing.

The state must be willing to “invest in our own future,” the chancellor told the group.

With the decline of paper production, perhaps the wood composites developed at the Orono campus could become “the economic advantage in our resource economy,” he said.

Through bond issues that have been approved by voters within the last five years, UMS has received $35 million that, in turn, brought in $140 million in federal matching money, UMS spokesman John Diamond said after the meeting.

“So we got four federal dollars for every one dollar provided by the state,” he said.

Research activity is on the rise now, Diamond said. Faculty members have become more aggressive about submitting grant proposals to the federal government since they have the necessary matching funds.

“Voters have been able to provide the missing link,” Diamond said “We had the brain power and opportunity to provide for federal money, but we didn’t have the down payment.”

As a result, the UM wood composite center “is a magnet in the eastern United States for cutting-edge research,” he said.

Capitalizing on his experience as acting secretary of the Army and executive director of a congressional caucus, Westphal said during his presentation that he would travel to Washington, D.C., next week to promote Maine’s research and development activity.

He said he plans to discuss with members of Congress and the Department of Defense the idea of using UM’s wood composite engineering for military and public improvement projects.

Closer to home, he plans to enlist the deans of the business schools at UM and USM to talk about a more proactive approach to helping Mainers start or expand small businesses.

“If we sit in Orono and expect the business people to come to us, forget it,” he said. “We need to reach out to them.”