BANGOR, Maine — Mark Scarano, the alternate federal co-chair of the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC), announced that the next round of grant funds are now available for federal assistance and will begin accepting applications.
Within Maine, Aroostook is one of 12 counties covered by the commission’s grant programs.
Eligible grant projects must develop the transportation, water, sewer, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure of the region; assist the region in obtaining job skills and employment related education, as well as entrepreneurship, technology and business development; provide basic health care and other public services for those areas that are severely economically distressed and underdeveloped; promote resource conservation, tourism, recreation, and preservation of open spaces in a manner consistent with economic development goals; and, to promote the development of renewable and alternative energy sources.
Scarano indicated that applications should be submitted to local economic development corporations, which will provide technical assistance to prospective grantees and ensure that applications are full and complete before forwarding them to the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development for processing. After the ranking is completed, the governors of the four states will certify to the commission their priority projects.
Interested applicants from the area should contact Alain Ouellette of the Northern Maine Development Commission, (207) 498-8736.
Scarano explained that the goal of the NBRC is to award approximately $4.5 million to projects by September 2015 and that the maximum grant for any applicant will be $250,000.
Created by the U.S. Congress in 2008, the NBRC’s mission is to help alleviate economic distress and encourage job creation throughout the northern regions in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. The NBRC has so far awarded 50 grants amounting to a little over $9.2 million.
At the completion of these projects, it is estimated that almost 5,000 jobs will be created and/or saved. In addition, for every $1 of NBRC federal funds expended, they will be leveraged with approximately $2 of other public or private funds.
