SENATORS SNOWE AND COLLINS ANNOUNCE FUNDING FOR A NEW TECHNOLOGY PARK DEVELOPMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C.- U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today announced that $1,995,000 in funding has been awarded to the town of Norway, Maine by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for a new office technology park. "This bold and exciting new project will greatly benefit the counties of Western Maine," Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. "The economic development and jobs it will bring to the area will be critical to Oxford county's revitalization. The fact that it will be a ‘green' office park will also give it an advantage over competing developments and serve to attract businesses and investors, while at the same time offering employees of the park and residents of Oxford county a beautiful space in which to work and recreate. It is vital that developers use opportunities such as this to promote both economic and environmental interests in order to prove that they are not necessarily at odds with one another . This demonstrates that it is possible to create jobs and boost the economy while encouraging greater environmental stewardship." This investment is for construction of the first green (environmentally sensitive) office park in New England, in an economically depressed area in Oxford county, Maine. This office technology park will create 500 new jobs, well-paying jobs for residents of Oxford, Cumberland, and Androscoggin counties and generate $50 million in private investment. The Western Maine Sustainable Technology Park is a regional development effort involving many public, non-profit and private entities. The park will be a Class A environmentally-sensitive office park designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards as established by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Technology Park will feature 10 buildings ranging in size from 15,000 to 40,000 square feet and will have advanced telecommunications and data services. The park will be surrounded by conservation land with public walking and nature trails, and will be designed to protect its panoramic lake, mountain and woods views. Developing the park as environmentally sensitive will serve as a marketing tool to attract new business investment, while demonstrating the effectiveness of high quality land use planning and architectural design. Employers will be able to offer employees a campus-like setting with beautiful views and easy access to the downtown area. Employees of the park, in addition to the community at large, will also benefit from the surrounding conservation land, which will minimize the environmental impact of the park, preserve the visual surroundings, and provide recreational opportunities such as hiking and fishing. Western Maine Development is a regional community development corporation that renovates and develops targeted commercial real estate projects to support business expansion, downtown revitalization and community facilities. It is a non-profit subsidiary of EnterpriseMaine, a family of community-based non-profit organizations and for profit subsidiaries dedicated to creating economic opportunity and enhancing the quality of life in rural western Maine. The Economic Development Administration (EDA) was established to work with states and localities to generate new jobs, retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically distressed areas and regions of the United States. The purpose of its program investments is to provide economically distressed communities with a source of funding for planning, infrastructure development, and business financing that will induce private investment in the types of business activities that contribute to long-term economic stability and growth. EDA's investments are strategically targeted to increase local competitiveness and strengthen the local and regional economic base. ###