Marine alliance

Consortium invests over $14 million in infrastructure projects to increase jobs

Marine alliance

Consortium invests over $14 million in infrastructure projects to increase jobs

The Alliance for Maine’s Marine Economy, a consortium of Maine-based marine businesses, research institutions and educational organizations, is investing in infrastructure and technologies with $7 million in voter-approved bond funds, matched by more than $7 million from Alliance members.

Led by the University of Maine, the Alliance is dedicated to ensuring that Maine seafood, fishing and aquaculture industries, and the natural ecosystems on which they depend, are healthy and benefit Maine people. These strategic investments support and diversify traditional fisheries, aquaculture and other marine-dependent industries.

On behalf of the state, the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) manages the finances of the Marine Economy and Jobs Bond. In partnership with the Alliance, MTI has invested in seven capital projects and awarded eight competitive capital grants. The investments include new processing capabilities at seafood businesses in York, Cumberland, Lincoln, Knox, Hancock and Washington counties, and new research and development, and commercialization facilities in Lincoln, Penobscot and Washington counties.

Capital investments in public institutions and private businesses will benefit the marine sector by facilitating business development, accelerating product innovation, assessing and preventing risks to resource health, forecasting changes in product supply and improving the value of Maine’s seafood resources.

Maine’s marine businesses will benefit from resources, technical assistance, information, educational opportunities, business training and capital that will allow them to grow and thrive in the face of the ever-changing ocean ecosystem and globalized economy.

The Alliance for Maine’s Marine Economy is a developing initiative focused on emerging opportunities and challenges related to a productive and profitable marine economy. Alliance partners have identified projects and contracts aimed at attracting at least another $50 million in additional private sector and federal grant dollars over the next 10 years. More information about the Alliance for Maine’s Marine Economy is online.

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