Cabinetmakers say they owe their success to Millinocket investment council

MILLINOCKET – Some of its critics believe the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council funnels manufacturing jobs away from town in favor of its other client municipalities, East Millinocket and Medway, and tourism.

Don’t count Michael J. Brown and Ronald Preo among them.

They are town-based manufacturers who ardently praise MAGIC and its executive director, Bruce McLean, for helping their business grow.

“Without MAGIC and … EMDC [Eastern Maine Development Corp.], we would not be where we are today,” said Brown, whose business began in his basement, now leases a 3,000-square-foot shop on Bates Street, and is poised to move to a 10,700-square-foot facility on Central Avenue.

McLean “is like a library,” Brown added. “He’s a resource and he’s always there for you. We found out about a lot of things that have helped us through him and what he was able to do for us.”

Among the aid MAGIC has offered or helped them get:

. Enrollment in the Governor’s Training Initiative Program, in which the state pays work force training costs, up to 85 percent of wages and portions of health insurance costs for qualified startup businesses.

. A Pine Tree Zone designation, in which manufacturers, financial service businesses and targeted technology companies can greatly reduce or almost eliminate state taxes for as long as 10 years, plus other benefits.

. Connection with EMDC, which, like MAGIC, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to business and job growth.

. Business advice and local contacts with like-minded businesses and government funding sources.

“MAGIC gets criticized by a very vocal minority of people that don’t have anything better to do than complain about the way things are,” Preo said, “instead of trying to make things better.”

One of those critics, Alyce Maragus, disagreed. She said that those who criticize MAGIC properly question whether the town funds MAGIC gets – $30,000 so far this fiscal year, with a November referendum to decide whether another $30,000 should be allocated – are wisely spent.

She does not believe that MAGIC earns its money.

“MAGIC is desperate for a success so they are going to highlight what they have,” she said. “MAGIC has had many, many more failures than successes. MAGIC exaggerates all the good it’s done, and some businesses, I believe, have been turned down for help.”

She lists several businesses that MAGIC has supported that have failed, but said she hopes Brown and Preo succeed.

“I don’t really know them well, but if that [their plans] were to happen, I would be ecstatic,” Maragus said.

Millinocket needs manufacturing businesses, she said.