UMFK cheers 14-acre gift of land

FORT KENT – Student enrollment isn’t the only thing growing at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

Acreage at the university also expanded Monday afternoon, as campus officials accepted a donation of 14 acres of woodlands from Bank of America. The land will be used for research and learning through the school’s forestry department.

More than 50 people attended a ceremony to laud news of the donation at UMFK’s Nadeau Hall Teleconference Room. Representatives from both the university and Bank of America were on hand along with state and local representatives and Gov. John Baldacci.

Bank of America merged with MBNA last year and, as a result, acquired the 14 acres adjacent to the university’s soccer field. While UMFK students had access to the property for study and research in the past, Bank of America decided to give the school full ownership of the site after the merger.

“The residents of Fort Kent have been very supportive of Bank of America, and we wanted to do something in return for them,” said Betsey Greenstein, president of Bank of America in Maine.

The Forest Technology Program at UMFK is a conservation-oriented program that focuses on the use of forests as renewable resources.

Students in the program use the 14 acres and other sites in the area as a natural laboratory in which to conduct research.

UMFK President Richard Cost expressed thanks to the institution for the donation and spoke about how the gift would allow a continually growing university to grow even more.

He noted that the university, which is home to more than 1,300 students, once again started the year with a 10 percent increase in enrollment.

“We have a three-part mission here at UMFK,” Cost told Bank of America representatives. “To focus on academic programs that serve the needs of rural communities such as this, to preserve our historically unique Franco heritage here in the [St. John] Valley, and to celebrate our geographical proximity to Maine’s marvelous wilderness. The gift you convey today touches on all aspects of our mission, and on behalf of all of us who love this university and this community, thank you very much.”

Baldacci was equally excited about what the donation would mean to the university, telling the crowd that the land gift would allow students to “enrich their learning experience outside the classroom.”

“This is a great day for Maine,” he added.

Before leaving Aroostook County, the governor visited Autotronics in Frenchville to celebrate news of the company’s planned expansion to Madawaska.

Paul Daigle, the president of Autotronics, announced plans for an expansion in March. The company repairs, refurbishes, remounts and builds new ambulances.

It currently employs 27 people and in April was named the New England region winner of the Small Business Administration’s Business of the Year.

The expansion, slated to take place over the next three years, will create a minimum of 35 full time jobs in the St. John Valley.