AUGUSTA – A convoy of construction vehicles and pick-up trucks hauling horse trailers gathered Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center before proceeding to the State House where more than 200 people rallied against a proposal that would increase the state’s share of slots revenue.

The change, which is an attempt to balance Maine’s budget, goes against Penn National Gaming Inc.’s previous agreement with the state, which allowed them to operate up to 1,500 slot machines in Bangor.

Those in attendance represented a wide-range of industries from harness racers and horse breeders to construction workers and electricians. The common thread – all have been affected by Penn National’s decision to halt work at its $131 million gaming facility on Main Street in Bangor. But none of them blame the company for its decision.

“If you don’t get goosebumps here, then there’s something wrong with you,” William McFarland, second vice president of the Maine Association of Agricultural Affairs, said while standing on the steps of the State House. “This is the wrong message for this state to send to prospective investors and developers.”

It was evident that Wednesday’s display was about more than just Penn National and slot machines.

“It’s about our future,” Jon Dicentes, Cianbro’s on-site project manager, said.

“All the future big box stores [that are] going into Bangor are going to look twice now,” David Leighton, vice president of Bangor-based construction company Vaughn Thibodeau & Sons, said at the Civic Center.

“Why would any industry trust the state?” Vaughn Thibodeau, owner of the construction company, added.

“It used to be in Maine, the handshake was the contract,” Leighton said.

From the time the project began until it was halted Tuesday, 25 to 30 independent companies had worked or were working at the site as sub-contractors.

“That’s businesses,” Dicentes said.

“Family businesses,” Thibodeau added.

About 30 employees from N.S. Giles Foundations of Bangor attended the rally. The company was awarded a contract to provide 9,000 cubic yards of concrete at the site and planned on working there until fall.

“We’re scrambling to move crews to different projects that we’ve got,” President Shane Giles said. “It definitely will make us hunt for a little more work that we thought we didn’t have to.”

Giles also is afraid of the ripple effect that terminating the racino project potentially could have.

His company does both commercial and residential work, and without jobs coming into the state, people likely won’t be building houses.

“[Breaking a deal] sends a message to other companies,” Giles said. “They scare everybody else off.”

When work stopped, some others weren’t fortunate enough to have other jobs lined up and have been laid off.

“I already called the unemployment office,” Ernie Wallace said. Wallace is a truck driver with Clisham Construction of Winterport who was hauling gravel from Greenbush to the site in Bangor.

He went to Wednesday’s rally on his own time and explained that he’d been excited to have the work because it meant he’d been able to get off of unemployment earlier than he’d thought.

“Right now, I need a check coming in next week,” he said. “That casino can really be a good thing.”

He noted that “every dump truck in the neighborhood” had been working and “the ripple effect is going to be right down the line” if the project doesn’t continue.

Harness racing also has been a family business in Maine for more than 100 years. If the project doesn’t move forward, the industry is in trouble, horse owner Scott Dillon of Madison said.

“We’re going to be worse than we were before,” he said, explaining that operating expenses have gone up. “It’s going to kill the racing industry. It was on life support before.”

“This sends such a bad message to industries in the state of Maine,” William Childs of Race Maine Stables of Westbrook said. “[It says] Maine is not a place that you can trust a deal that is set with the government.”

Participants felt Wednesday like they already had won in making their point and were confident that legislators would listen. Some lawmakers even addressed the crowd while others attended the event.

“Us being united sends a very strong message to the people in this building,” Rep. Don Marean, R-Hollis, said. “We need to send a message to the people in this house to leave our money alone. We are a very powerful group of people. Leave Penn National as they are. They are our ally. They are our asset.”