City lands $1.55 million grant
to help local manufacturer
PORTLAND, Maine — A Mount Desert Island laboratory and the city of Presque Isle have won $3.4 million of federal grants for projects to support biomedical research and medical device manufacturing.
The Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced The Jackson Laboratory will get $1.82 million to help turn a former Lowe’s in Ellsworth into a production facility for lab mice; the city of Presque Isle will get about $1.55 million to support the expansion of manufacturer Acme Monaco into a new city-owned building at 1450 Central Drive.
The EDA said the grant recipients claimed the projects would help create about 400 jobs and generate about $120 million in private investment.
The Acme Monaco project received another federal grant earlier this month, getting $250,000 from the Northern Border Regional Commission to improve the 16,000-square-foot city-owned building.
The EDA said the Presque Isle grant “will help fund the construction of offices, clean rooms, general and specialty production rooms, access modifications, and exterior site and parking improvements.”
The EDA grant brings the total in federal funds to more than $3.1 million awarded for the Presque Isle building, according to Larry Clark, director of the city’s industrial council. The city will match the latest grant with $630,000 in local funds, he said Tuesday.
Clark said the new facility will enable Acme Monaco to add an additional 23 employees to the 72 currently working in the city.
“This is big for Presque Isle,” Clark said. “This is an established company, and we really believe they are going to grow beyond the 23 anticipated new jobs.”
Acme Monaco, which is based in New Britain, Connecticut, has operated in Presque Isle since 1989, making medical products that include surgical staples and guidewires.
Clark said he anticipates bids will go out for the design and engineering portion of the project later next month or November with an award by December. Requests for construction bids will be sent out with an expected project start time next spring and an anticipated move-in date for Acme Monaco in December, 2016.
The Jackson Laboratory, based in Bar Harbor, focuses on genomic research and breeds lab mice sold to other research institutions. Its “avatar” mouse allows physicians to test and develop individualized treatments for cancer patients.
Jackson Laboratory officials told Ellsworth city councilors in May that the lab was seeking about $2.13 million from the EDA for the facility, which has an estimated price tag of $75 million, according to The Ellsworth American. It also has received a state grant for $1.74 million from the Maine Technology Institute.
BDN writer Julia Bayly contributed to this report.
