Presque Isle gets $250,000
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — One of the city’s largest manufacturing companies may be able to expand its medical and orthodontics device product line thanks to a grant for building improvements.
Presque Isle has been awarded $250,000 from the Northern Border Regional Commission to improve a city-owned building at the Skyway Industrial Park for Acme Monaco. The New Britain, Connecticut-based company has operated in Presque Isle since 1989, making medical products like surgical staples and guidewires.
Moving into and leasing the new building will come with more than 70 existing jobs and as many as 23 new ones, according to estimates from the grant writers. It was one of six projects receiving a collective $1.3 million from the Northern Border Regional Commission.
“These grants will give our tight-knit communities the resources they need to upgrade and be open for business,” said Maine’s Second District Congressman Bruce Poliquin, announcing the awards in Maine. The Northern Border Regional Commission is detailing the grants later in the week.
The 16,000 square-foot facility set to be outfitted is a “spec” or speculative building, created in anticipation of a potential manufacturer seeking new space, said Larry Clark, executive director of the Presque Isle Industrial Council.
Acme Monaco currently leases two manufacturing plants in Presque Isle. The new building will allow them to consolidate “into a single facility and space for future growth,” said Clark.
With locations in Presque Isle, New Britain and Singapore, Acme Monaco manufacturers guidewires for a variety of catheters used in surgeries and internal diagnostics, such as cardiovascular catheterization, along with archwires, medical grade springs, stampings, fourslide parts and wire forms.
The $250,000 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission is part of a series of $2.5 million in grants that Presque Isle and the Industrial Council are pursuing to aid Acme Monaco’s long-term presence. Applications are also pending for a Community Development Block Grant through the state of Maine and a federal Economic Development Administration grant, Clark said.
