ORONO, Maine — A University of Maine System economist is thinking “outside the box” in a really big way.
Bangor could have a 600,000-square-foot development park ready to use by this summer if it moves to take advantage of some big box store locations off Stillwater Avenue near the Bangor Mall, said James Breece, the system’s vice chancellor of academic affairs.
“We have here a high value-added development park,” Breece told the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce’s annual business breakfast Tuesday at the Black Bear Inn. “We do need a lot of imagination and hard work. … But as Wayne Gretzky said, think about where the puck is going, not where it’s been.”
As Breece envisions things, the park would consist of the former Home Depot building, which is now vacant and available, the Shaw’s building, which will be mostly vacant and available by the end of February, and the Target, Wal-Mart and Burlington Coat Factory buildings, all of which have tenants.
A Bangor city official pointed out that Lowe’s Home Improvement has a permit to go into the Wal-Mart building, once the new Super Wal-Mart on Stillwater Avenue is ready to be used. Neither the Burlington Coat Factory nor Target has indicated that it intends to move.The economic benefits of such a project include increased employment with higher-paying jobs, a “vibrant” local economy and global recognition, Breece said. In addition to usable buildings, the site is conveniently located near the state’s pre-eminent university, good transportation and a burgeoning medical research industry.
Film studios, aerospace technologies, computer software systems and medical research might be possible tenants to take advantage of the space.
“I don’t think we can afford not to do it,” Breece said.
His idea woke up the chamber members even more than their breakfast coffee did — but it was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, curiosity and skepticism by area officials and redevelopment experts.
“Looking at the assets he outlined, it makes sense,” said Candy Guerette, president of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce. “Our challenge is to look at it in a new light — what we’ve seen as retail is not necessarily retail. … It got people thinking, ‘Yes, he’s right.’”
Jake Ward, assistant vice president of research, economic development and government relations at the University of Maine, said Maine is known for having good workers.
“One of the things we get high marks on in this area is the stability of our labor force,” Ward said.
While the idea of filling 600,000 square feet with small start-up companies is “a little daunting,” he said, a new development park might take a page from its neighbor across Hogan Road.
“It needs to be like a mall,” he said.
Rodney McKay, director of community and economic development for the city of Bangor, said that while the city hasn’t been greatly concerned about retail “shuffling” in the mall area, universities are often driving forces for research parks.
“Typically what you see in other areas is that universities will attract businesses through their research and development. A lot of high-tech firms need to be developed near university facilities. There’s great potential there,” McKay said. “In the Bangor area, there’s two really strong driving forces — the medical field, which is continuously expanding and growing, and the university.”
Raymond Cota, a vice president of Webber Oil, said that the company is open to suggestions about the future of the Shaw’s building, which a Webber subsidiary owns.
“We’ll listen to anything right now,” he said. “Having been intimately involved with the development of the Orono research park, I wouldn’t dismiss any type of idea as being too far out. … In these times, everybody has to be open to ideas.”
On 1/14/09 at 9:00 AM,
David889327 wrote:
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Grasping at straws.
On 1/14/09 at 9:16 AM,
downfleeced wrote:
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Hey!....Lets scare any possible tenants away from those vacant buildings by talk of a possible land grab for a grandiose idea that will NEVER come to fruition. Maine does not have the people, culture or BUSINESS CLIMATE to court anyone let alone a bunch of start ups to Bangor. Start ups and the other industries mentioned look for a young vibrant workforce in locations that cater to businesses with economic incentives and low taxes. Of which Maine has neither... Change Maine to a Small business friendly state and the above will happen on its own!!!
On 1/14/09 at 10:12 AM,
halfhot wrote:
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Way to shake em up at the Chamber breakfast with your expensive pipe dream Mr. Breece. You obviously don't have the real world experience and understanding for a project of this magnitude which does not fit the planned growth idea for a city the size of Bangor.
On 1/14/09 at 10:47 AM,
pjramsay wrote:
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This will work....with the right incentives. Unfortunately, those incentives are tax breaks and federal grants. The tax breaks will be offset by the increase in employment. The grants can take years to procure.
The federal incentive is a "green" complex. All buildings can be recycled from retail to research and development. All buildings must utilize wind or solar energy. All businesses must develop an internship or training program that can be federally funded. This is exactly the type of forward thinking that Washington is looking for in the new stimulus package.
The problem is, the stimulus package is moving faster than our development. We need Dr. Breece to build a conceptualize model to present to our congressional delegation so they can get the federal funds needed to go forwards.
Developing better batteries for cars, new solar energy bulbs, new wood products can be researched at the University and built in this new park. This Bangor Area Research Complex (BARC) may be the wake-up call that the Breakfast Chamber and the "other Maine" needs.
After all, the dog that BARC's the loudest usually gets noticed first.
On 1/14/09 at 11:36 AM,
TonyPayne wrote:
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If you create incentives AND have a predictable and supportive business climate - they will come. It is time to be bold which does not mean putting more public money into economic development while letting a lot of it stick to the fingers of government as it passes through their coffers. What will move entrepreneurs toward investing is to have government back away by NOT charging taxes in exchange for investing in production that creates long-tem jobs. The fallacy of calling retail mega-boxes "economic development" has finally shown its face. Real economic development is when investors put money into making goods with plant and equipment that produces competitive and high-demand products.
On 1/14/09 at 12:12 PM,
pjramsay wrote:
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I agree with you Tony - however, private investment in this country is in a coma. The money will have to come federally first and then privately.
I want the federal government to build a refinery at the Brunswick NAS which will be closing next year. This should cost around $700-million. Once it is built, the government would put the operation out to bid. Minimum bid - $35-million for 20 years. The construction would require around 4,000 employees. Operations would require around 1,200 workers. Recycling the base would save a fortune in clean-up costs and keep the Brunswick area fiscally sound.
America (in particular, New England) gets a new refinery and Maine gets some very high paying jobs. The feds also get their investment back and after 20 years will opt to sell the refinery through a bid process.
Bangor also has a very sophisticated (slightly outdated) Radar facility on the Guard Base. This radar can see into Russia as well as the Gulf of Mexico. The are three of the sites in the U.S., Florida, California and Maine. Upgrading these sites (around $1-billion) to replace the current Air Traffic Control EnRoute Facilities (around 23 sites) would save billions and bring the FAA into 21st century. We would also be recycling a facility that is still operational.
Again, this would mean highly-skilled technical people to build this facility and 500 to 600 controllers (salaries in the mid $50,000 range) that would be transferred into the area. We would generate a real estate boom and additional tax revenue for the state.
All of these idea's look good on paper, but it is going to take Snow, Collins, Michaud and Pingree to secure the funds to make it happen. The money is going to be spent, guaranteed. It should be spent here.
Remember, the dog that BARC's the loudest wins.
On 1/14/09 at 12:25 PM,
David889327 wrote:
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Bio-medical R & D? That would be building on the region's strongest suit, healthcare. Another possibility might be high-tech mapping software development out of UMaine. Everything else is probably a pipe dream, save for some kind of extraordinary serendipity going on in someone's garage. Finally, is the retail market saturated? Maybe the best idea is to stay in the box and let the already vibrant retail continue to grow, as distasteful as that might be to the pc crowd.
On 1/14/09 at 12:44 PM,
mainejeff wrote:
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I'd hate to be anyone in Maine trying to do anything with the constant tide of negativity that permeates the state. The preceding posts are a good example.
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