Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 34 : Fall 2017 | Page 52

Companies want to locate here. Companies know the
area to be populated with people that possess a hard
working job ethic, that real estate prices are reasonable,
and that it’s a safe, beautiful area to live.
That’s where the title of the article came from.
Working in concert with the United Veterans of
Maine and a new nonprofit group known as the
Center for Advancement of Rural Living (CARL)
we are mounting a campaign called Live and Work
in Northern Maine. We recognize that towns like
Limestone and the entire region will benefit if the
right people are here to work at jobs that come to the
area. As you read this jobs are being created at our
greatest asset in Limestone, The Loring Commerce
Centre. Formerly the US Air Force Base, the Centre
is now the largest Industrial Park in Maine and the
only one with a 12,700ft long runway capable of
handling the largest planes in the world. That runway
and control tower have been reopened and planes are
landing there now. $750,000 has been authorized
for this year and another $750K has been authorized
for next year for needed repairs and updates to these
systems but the basics are in place and working.
Loring Commerce Centre is currently home to 27
businesses and the Job Corps. One of the companies,
Loring Industries, is working with the Maine
Military Authority(MMA) to complete the city bus
refurbishment contract with the city of Boston. That’s
why those of you in the Caribou/Limestone region
see these large gray articulated city buses on the roads
in the region. The buses you see are undergoing
a 300 mile road test required to be sure all is well
before the buses are handed back over to Boston.
The word is that the city is so pleased with the work
that it plans to send other city vehicles to Loring for
refurb. Success breeds success and other cities will take
notice of the stellar work done by the combination of
Loring Industries and the MMA so Loring Industries
is hiring locals and also Job Corps grads to staff up
for the future business. Loring Industries has also
purchased and refurbished the former Loring Inn.
While not open to the general public, the building is
available so that high level professionals like doctors,
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engineers, managers and others can be housed for a
longer term while they relocate to the region. Another
private company has already shipped 35 trailer loads
of aircraft parts and equipment to Loring so that it can
open an aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul
(MRO) Company at Loring. Locating here will allow
that company to work on those large planes that
can now land at Loring. The company is awaiting
FAA certification so that it can begin operations.
That company has also acquired a building that was
formerly the Officers Quarters at Loring to house the
workers it will have to bring to the region.
Back to our “Live and Work In Northern Maine”
campaign. The first goal is to convince veterans that
served at Loring to return to the region. We have
learned that a large number of our veterans would
like to return to the region they grew to love and
will do so if there are jobs here. We need them and
their skills to help us in this campaign to repopulate
Northern Maine. We are currently building a website
called LiveandWorkinNorthernMaine.com and will
be aiming that website at the social media sites that
our veterans follow as a way to keep in touch with
each other. We have learned that a strong sense of
brotherhood is shared among our veterans and we
want to reach them to encourage them to return
to region. The state of Maine has done some great
things to make it attractive to come here and we’ll
detail that information on our site. One example is
that Maine no longer taxes a veterans pension. Here’s
one of the Federal benefits a veteran brings with him
to Northern Maine: Veterans qualify for a VA Home
loan that allows qualified buyers the opportunity to
purchase a home with no down payment. Here in
Northern Maine, one can buy a lot of house for not a
lot of money so we’re an attractive place to locate!
We predict that in the near future other businesses
will notice that Northern Maine is a great place to
do business.. Being successful takes all the ingredients
we listed here: Jobs, Education, Life Style, Financing
and most of all, people. Our goal is to repopulate the
region. Wish us well in that endeavor and visit our
website soon!