PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The City of Presque Isle received a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration on Tuesday.
The grant will go towards funding a new aerospace research park, access road, and parking lot at the Presque Isle International Airport, a news release from the EDA on Tuesday said.
The new aerospace research park will be an expansion of an aerospace industry tenant that already resides at the airport, according to the release.
"There is one tenant currently in a hangar at the airport who will expand and become the first tenant in the park," City of Presque Isle spokesperson Kimberly R. Smith said in an email regarding the release. "The total project cost is $5,629,128 with EDA grant funding of $4,503,302."
Smith wrote the anticipated impact and outcomes of the project include "$30 million in private investment leveraged."
Not only will the grant fund the park project, but it will also create a "minimum" of 126 new job positions for residents in the area, Smith wrote.
"The Economic Development Administration is pleased to support Presque Isle as it works to diversify and grow the region’s economy,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo said in the release. “The construction supported by this EDA investment will allow an existing aerospace industry tenant to expand business operations and create good-paying, quality jobs in the region.”
“We welcome this investment at Presque Isle International Airport, which will help sustain and create good-paying jobs at the Research Park, enable existing companies to grow, and attract new business activity,” Sens. Susan Collins, Angus King, and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden said in a joint statement in the release. “In addition, the state-of-the-art facility will promote recruitment of highly educated individuals, and it will be a focal point for students attending area high schools and the Maine School of Science and Mathematics to be introduced to the many opportunities of STEM research and related fields."
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