Staff Writer
A new economic development agency that is expected to fund capital investments along America’s northeast border, including Aroostook County, was passed by Congress last week. The Northern Border Regional Commission could bring an additional $30 million annually in development funds to the most economically distressed areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.
“Across the four-state region, our problems are pretty much the same,” said Robert Clark, director of the Northern Maine Development Commission in Caribou. “It will bring the states together. We will have more political power to work on common problems.”
The money can be used to improve the areas’ infrastructure, such as education or transportation projects, Clark explained.
According to U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, who first authored the bill to create the commission in 2004, the new commission is modeled after the “highly successful” Appalachian Regional Commission.
Money derived from the new agency can be used to help community meet federal matches required of other programs, which Michaud said provides a high investment return.
The law creating the new agency is included in the new Farm Bill, which President Bush is expected to veto. However, congressional officials are expecting that the veto will be overridden. The next step will be getting the funding in place, according to Michaud’s office.
The new agency will allow NMDC officials to create a development plan at the regional level that “for the first time” will become part of the statewide economic plan, Clark said. Already the Caribou-based agency writes a five-year plan, which is updated annually.
But under the new federal agency, the state plan will become a work plan for the four-state area.
“It will be better coordinated,” Clark said, adding that the funding will come directly to the state.
According to federal officials, 12.5 percent of the population lives in poverty in the counties along the border in the states included in the agency. Median housing income is more than $6,500 below the national average and unemployment through layoffs in traditional manufacturing industries is routine.
“These statistics indicate significant economic distress,” according to a description of the new agency.
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said, the commission will be able to provide grants for projects that have been planned by local and regional development plans. Projects could include public infrastructure, modernization in the forest products industry, forest-related cultural and heritage tourism.
By taking a regional view, the new commission can promote projects that have a broader benefit without the states having to complete for funds, according to federal officials.
Another aspect of the commission is to foster alternative energy projects and industries.
The new agency is not expected to duplicate other organizations and programs such as the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The work of state agencies and local development organizations, such as NMDC, also would not be duplicated.
The commission would be comprised of the states’ four governors or their designees, plus a federal co-chair.
In addition to Aroostook County, 11 other Maine counties will be included in the commission’s jurisdiction.
