Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has awarded Saint Joseph’s College in Standish a $1,987,512 grant for the college’s Institute for Local Food Systems Innovation. The project, which is anticipated to create approximately 88 jobs, will foster collaboration between the public and private sectors to support local farms, food, and beverage producers and bolster the production-to-consumption value chain in southern Maine.

“Upon completion, the Institute for Local Food Systems will help strengthen our state’s economy by supporting local food-business entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement. “This investment will allow the institute to provide small businesses with the resources to deliver year-round produce to the local marketplace.”

This funding will help fund St. Joseph’s College’s Institute for Local Food Systems Innovation, which will include a quarter-acre hydroponic greenhouse, a 3,400-square-foot commercial kitchen, a livestock barn, a connection to the municipal water system, and a biomass boiler system. The institute is projected to impact the regional economy with a total net gain of $16.1 million in output and $4.1 million in earnings.

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