LIMESTONE, Maine — The Maine Military Authority is putting 26 people back to work thanks to a major infusion of funds.
The $40 million from the National Guard Bureau is for the immediate refurbishment of more than 700 discarded United States military Humvee trucks already on site at the Limestone facility.
“This is huge,” Hugh Corbett, Maine Military Authority executive director, said Wednesday afternoon. “That money is for the current fiscal year and we have it in the bank right now.”
Due to a decrease in federal funding, the authority, which refurbishes military vehicles mostly for the National Guard, was forced to lay off 152 of its 350 employees in March 2011.
The 26 workers returning to the facility are being recalled from that layoff, Corbett said.
The authority’s entire budget for fiscal year 2012 had been at $30 million, with next year’s projected to be $26 million.
“This is a huge bonus for us,” Corbett said. “We are ready to start immediately.”
The funds, Corbett said, come from the Guard’s operational and maintenance fund. The money had to be earmarked by Sept. 30 and could not be used for anything other than vehicle refurbishment.
“We were in the position to accept the work,” Corbett said.
Workers at the 10,000-square-foot Limestone facility take the discarded Humvees, which had been in service with U.S. active duty troops around the world, and rebuild them from the wheels up with complete mechanical, electrical and body overhauls.
“When they come off our production line they are just like new,” Corbett said.
From Limestone the National Guard ships the vehicles to its units around the country.
“This funding will not only provide the National Guard with fully refurbished vehicles, but it’s also a shot in the arm for the local economy with the re-employment of a number of highly skilled workers,” U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud said in a release Wednesday.
“This critical funding is an affirmation of the tremendous skill and dedicated work ethic the employees at Maine Military Authority bring to the table,” U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said in her own release on Wednesday. “It is a testament to all of the men and women at MMA that the National Guard Bureau has recognized the extraordinary value they are able to provide by quickly and efficiently refurbishing Humvees for the National Guard.”
Corbett said this looks to be the beginning of a turnaround at the facility.
“This is a good start and we are hopeful with other programs in development,” he said. “This is the beginning of a new phase [and] we are on the mend, I think.”
Great news for Northern Maine!!
Yes it is .
Lets hope Gov. Leboob doesn’t hear about this. We can’t allow any of those “federal dollars” to come into our state!
Gov Leboob will get his hands on this one real quick
I see Mike Michaud and Olympia Snowe send out press releases about it. I missed in the article where they were key to this happening.
So my husband will be getting a call, when?
It depends where he is on the recall list and what he does–I heard they are only hiring back Mechanics….so if he was like a parts person– I wouldnt sit by the phone.
hope he hasn’t been sitting by the phone waiting for that call for a year
While I’m happy about 26 people returning to work in this economy, it’s still a far cry from the 152 that were let go in ’11. Good luck to you all in getting those machines back in tip top shape!
Now if someone would concentrate on opening up the rail line into the LDA it would cut down on transportation charges for these projects and maybe even make the MMA more competitive. Enoughto bring in more contracts and rehire more of the 152. Let’s get on the band wagon and wake up ;the world that we have infrastructure to be mended so that we can be more marketable. Maybe rail use would increase to 150% of what it was and make that investment worth while.
That’s $57142 each which seems like a good price for total refurb of this type vehicle.
The original cost was 70,000.00. I don’t agree that paying 80% of the original cost to refurbish it is a good deal.
First –their are several hmmwv models and all vary in cost–some are as much as 300k. Second–that origonal cost would be a base model in 1984– to replace a standard hmmwv today is more like 120k- 150k for an average model. Its agreat deal for solders, taxpayers, the local economy and MMA. You seem like a foot dragger….so get out of the way of progress….some people are trying to get s*** done.
add to the fact that the base model does not have the armor that is needed in the theatre of combat that we are currently in, and this price includes adding the armor plating that is needed to protect the troops. Sounds like a great deal actually.
This is great news. However the MMA needs to look down the road and develop a program to refurbish the fleet of MRAPs and the FMTV family. The Humvee’s are beginning to be phased out as they are not a good combat tactical vehicle.
hmmwv’s still have their place on the battle field–espically the up armored units. MRAP’s are great and save lives–in third world countries, they are to large and catch power lines and most roads wont hold their massive weight causing them to roll over.
While this is great news for some it still does not solve the problem of the general lack of good paying jobs in Aroostook County. Politicians allways take credit for these small things while failing in the big picture.