WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and U.S. Representative Bruce Poliquin announced today that the University Center Economic Development Program at the University of Maine and University of Southern Maine will receive a total of $116,667 in grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support technical assistance for Maine’s forest products sector. In June, the Senators wrote a letter to the EDA in support of the project.

“The continued effort to strengthen the forest products economy requires an all-hands-on-deck approach, which is why we welcome this additional investment from the Economic Development Administration,” said Senators Collins and King and Representative Poliquin in a joint statement. “The University of Southern Maine has served as an EDA University Center for decades, and this funding will help expand that positive impact to UMaine-Orono.  Working together, our universities can continue to play an active and important role in building a brighter future for the Maine forest products sector and for our economy as a whole.”

The EDA investment announced today will fund the University Center Economic Development Program at University of Maine in partnership with the University of Southern Maine.  That program will work to bolster Maine’s forest products industry and the communities it supports by providing technical assistance, attracting innovation to the state, and engaging Maine’s entrepreneurial community.

The EDA is an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, and has spearheaded the multi-agency Economic Development Assistance Team (EDAT) that is now working with stakeholders in our state on an action plan to strengthen the future of Maine’s forest products industry. Senators Collins and King sent a letter to the Department of Commerce in March 2016 requesting the formation of the EDAT, and along with Representative Poliquin at the University of Maine in July, announced a total of $7.7 million in federal investment to support Maine’s forest products industry.

The EDA's University Center program is a competitively-awarded partnership program between the EDA and academic institutions. The program works to connect university resources with the economic development community. The University of Southern Maine has served as an EDA University Center for more than 40 years, and this award will expand that designation to include the University of Maine at Orono.  

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