Wisconsin says it has wooed aircraft start-up from Maine

AUGUSTA — Wisconsin appears to have won the bidding war for a promised 600 new manufacturing jobs originally expected to come to Maine.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced today that Kestrel Aircraft Corporation will establish its manufacturing and business headquarters in Superior, Wisc. The company had planned to locate its facility in Brunswick at the recently decommissioned Brunswick Naval Air Station. However, the start-up had also been approached by other states after CEO Alan Klapmeier sought additional financing.

Klapmeier in December met with Gov. Paul LePage and members of his administration to discuss ways to keep the aircraft manufacturing company in Brunswick. However, there were signs last week that those efforts were running up against stiff competition.

On Monday, Walker announced that his administration had delivered a financing package that would bring Kestrel to Superior.

Klapmeier said his inability to obtain additional tax credits from Maine forced him to consider other locations. In November, The Forecaster reported that Kestrel was eyeing a manufacturing facility in Berlin, N.H., after Klapmeier appeared in a report by New Hampshire Public Radio.

Kestrel had hoped to fund a portion of its $100 million project through Coastal Enterprises, a Wiscasset-based private, nonprofit community development institution, and the federal New Market Tax Credit program. The program helps bring jobs and investments into low-income or distressed areas, as identified in the U.S. Census.

Kestrel hoped to receive $39 million in tax credits, but only received a fifth of the amount it was seeking. In April, the company was allocated $7.8 million in tax credits, enough to get Kestrel Aeroworks, the maintenance and repair operation, off the ground, but not enough to start manufacturing airplanes.

News of the financing struggles prompted renewed efforts by state officials to keep Kestrel in Brunswick.

Last week LePage highlighted the state's effort to support Kestrel, including a  $300,000 Community Development Block Grant, a lease write-down rate that carries a value of $250,000 per year, a local property tax exemption carrying a value of $105,000 per year, $750,000 in direct building improvements and  commitment from the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA) to issue $10 million in tax revenue bonds.

With those commitments already made, the LePage administration sought additional information from Kestrel before sweetening the pot.

"All that is left is for our team to receive updated and thorough financial information from Kestrel," LePage said last week in a statement. "As governor, it is my responsibility to ensure prudent use of Maine’s business development programs."

The company had planned to lease one of the former U.S. Navy base's prime locations, the state-of-the-art Hangar 6. The company's plan to build a single-engine turboprop in Brunswick had excited state officials, who touted the company's promise of 600 jobs.

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