LIMESTONE – The Loring Development Authority approved a contract Thursday morning that will bring a national data center and up to 20 new jobs to Aroostook County.

The transaction with RS Information Systems Inc. was approved at an emergency meeting of the LDA. The final transaction was completed through a telephone conference.

RS Systems is a private contractor for the National Office of Job Corps. The company, of San Marcos, Texas, and McLean, Va., will provide information technology installation, processing of information and technical support for Job Corps centers located across the country. The Job Corps has a center located on the Loring Commerce Centre.

“We are delighted that RS Information Systems has chosen Loring as its preferred site,” Brian Hamel, LDA president and CEO, said in a press statement. “RS clearly recognized the quality of our work force, the first-class nature of Loring’s facilities, the success of the Loring Job Corps Center, and the state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure that exists in northern Maine.

“We believe that Loring is an ideal site for data and disaster recovery center operations,” he said. “Companies will continue to come to the realization that this type of operation can be operated cost-effectively in our rural community.”

Hamel said he thought that more jobs, in addition to the 15 or 20 starting positions, will become available.

The jobs, which include technicians, computer operators and programmers, all will be filled locally, he said. The pay range for lower-end jobs will be about $8 to $9 an hour. For the more technical jobs, there will be “very good pay,” the LDA official said.

The company will be situated in an 8,000-square-foot facility. Hamel said renovations on Building 5007 will begin within a few weeks. The lease will be signed within a week, and work will begin almost immediately.

The renovations are mostly cosmetic, including new flooring, painting and the removal of walls, and should be completed in six weeks.

“The center should be up and running within two months,” Hamel said.

The facility will be an information backup center for Job Corps centers across the country. There will be no product shipped from the facility; everything from the center will travel over telecommunications lines.

Hamel said that with the expected increase in Job Corps activity across the country, there is a distinct possibility of future data center expansion at Loring, in additional facilities.

NEWS reporter Matt LeBlanc contributed to this report.