BRUNSWICK, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- State and local leaders in Brunswick say they're working overtime to keep Kestrel Aircraft at Brunswick Landing.
Kestrel has been planning to manufacture its new corporate aircraft in Maine, and predicted it would create at least 300 new jobs at the site of the former Navy base...but last week, base redevelopment leaders found out Kestrel has also been looking at doing some of the work in Berlin, New Hampshire.
Steve Levesque, Executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA), says that news surprised him. Levesque says they had always known Kestrel would develop a second facility to help with parts manufacturing, but the discussions had been about that facility also being located in Maine.
The problem is apparently caused by Kestrel's need to raise investment capital to begin manufacturing the airplanes. Levesque says Kestrel has been planning to utilize a Federal tax credit program called New Markets as an incentive to attract investors. He says the program is designed to help rural areas, and under the New Market rules, Brunswick is not rural enough to qualify. Levesque says he's been working closely with the LePage Administration, the Maine Congressional Delegation and Kestrel to find a solution.
On Friday afternoon, Maine Commissioner of Economic Development George Gervais told News Center he believes the state has been able to identify alternative financing methods that can work for Kestrel. Levesque says he, too, is confident they can find a plan that will allow Kestrel to build the facility in Maine. Commissioner Gervais says he hopes the state can make an announcement next week.
BRUNSWICK, Maine — The news Thursday that Kestrel Aircraft Company might move some of its planned 600 new Maine jobs to New Hampshire surprised Department of Economic Development Commissioner George Gervais as much as it did anyone else.
“I found out Thursday morning,” said Gervais. “I immediately cleared my schedule and backed out of the Capitol for a Day event with Gov. LePage in Waldo County. We’ve been working on this feverishly.”
The result, according to Gervais, is a new funding source that may help Kestrel keep all of its operations in Brunswick.
“We’ve identified an additional funding source that wasn’t on the table until recently,” said Gervais.
Kestrel, which wants to build a new brand of single-engine turboprop aircraft, originally announced that the bulk of manufacturing would occur at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station. But this week, citing problems securing federal tax credits designed for new businesses, Kestrel President Alan Klapmeier said it was considering building a plant elsewhere — perhaps in Berlin, N.H. — to construct some of the plane’s components while keeping its assembly plant in Brunswick.
Klapmeier was unavailable Friday for comment, according to Kestrel spokeswoman Kate Dougherty, who added that she had not spoken to him about any new funding sources for the manufacturing up-start. However, Gervais said he spoke to Klapmeier recently about the new idea.
“He was willing to allow us to pursue this on Kestrel’s behalf,” said Gervais. “This should fill the gap on financing that Kestrel is facing.”
Gervais said the new funding source involves another business, which he could not identify because that business is planning an announcement for next week, possibly Tuesday. The funding source, which Gervais would not identify as either public or private, would also be available to other businesses in Maine in the future.
“From what I understand, and I defer to Kestrel, this will allow them to continue as originally planned to do this project in Maine,” said Gervais. “Our goal is to make sure that happens.”
Asked whether the funding source involves a recent announcement by the Blackstone Group, which said earlier this month it will make an initial investment of $3 million in Maine that could create 10,000 jobs in 10 years, Gervais said it does not.
“It hasn’t been just me alone working on this,” he said. “Once this idea was sparked I pulled in some of the federal delegation and some of the legislators in the [Brunswick] area who are obviously concerned about the jobs involved. This isn’t just a DEDC show.”
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