Millinocket-area group eyes business loan program

EAST MILLINOCKET – A representative from the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council will meet Monday with the Board of Selectmen to discuss establishing revolving loans for town businesses and startups.

The MAGIC idea could help local businesses get through lean times, fill gaps left by state loans or help startups get going, Shirley Tapley, board administrative assistant, said.

“They will probably be small business loans no more than $15,000,” Tapley said. “It’s all still in the planning stages.”

Such a revolving loan would have an immediate impact on the Millinocket area, MAGIC Executive Director Bruce McLean said Friday.

MAGIC is a nonprofit tricommunity economic development organization that serves Medway, Millinocket and East Millinocket.

It would help fill a loan gap and help allow Prewitt Fiberglass Animals of Nebraska move into the East Millinocket shell building. A state loan has funded about 80 percent of Prewitt’s costs. A revolving loan would fill the 20 percent gap, he said, and help create 16 new jobs with Prewitt, which makes full-scale fiberglass figurines commonly seen in major cities.

“The East Millinocket selectmen have wanted to get more involved with helping businesses,” McLean said. “We have identified other communities that have tools for economic development that East Millinocket doesn’t. Revolving loans is one of them.”

Funding for the loans could come from several sources, McLean said. The state of Maine, Eastern Maine Development Corp. in Bangor and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are among the agencies that have grant programs. The town also could use its reserves.

None of the options would probably carry any real cost for the town, McLean said, as the loans would come with interest rates that would in the long run make money for the town. The town also would benefit from a new businesses’ addition to tax rolls.

If the selectmen agree to the program, funding could be available as early as February, McLean said. Selectmen would help set the interest rates.

Another effort the selectmen will discuss is forming an economic development committee that will work with MAGIC to attract new businesses and work with existing businesses to make local government more of an asset to success, Tapley said.

Committees also may be formed in Medway and Millinocket, McLean said.