2025 shaped up to be a year of promise for major economic development in Aroostook County.
From new construction and renovation at the former Loring Air Force Base, to emerging industries and global brands choosing The County to set up shop, a number of substantial projects were announced or opened this year.
Aerospace was a major player, with Presque Isle breaking ground on a $6 million aerospace research park at its airport in August.
Regional leaders noted central Aroostook as a whole is a prime location for that industry, noting the success of Maine rocket company VALT Enterprizes. VALT opened in part of Presque Isle’s General Aviation Terminal in 2021 and will expand into the new 72-acre park.
“[This] really marks the effort to bring the new space economy to our great state,” Maine DOT Director of Aviation Alan Lambert said at the groundbreaking. Aerospace could add $1 billion annually to Maine’s GDP, he added.
Here’s a look at some more of the biggest investments in The County in 2025 and where things stand heading into 2026.
New life at Loring
If 2024 outlined the potential for redevelopment at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, 2025 made some of that vision a reality.
Announced last year, a $65 million locally owned potato chip plant is now taking shape at the Loring Commerce Centre. The Taste of Maine Potato Chip Co. plant will begin by producing kettle chips under its own brand, but owner Bruce Sargent hopes eventually to copack for major companies.
The 96,000-square-foot facility is anticipated to open in April or May, creating around 40 jobs and going online initially with four kettles, potentially expanding to eight, Sargent said in July.
With four kettles, the plant will be able to produce around 100,000 8-ounce bags of chips a day. Sargent expected to use roughly 1,500 acres of both round white and russet potatoes from local farmers at that production level.
“This is the keystone for future developments that are going to happen here,” Limestone Town Manager Edward Pocock said in July. “The town stands ready to be partners in it.”
Across Loring’s campus, Maine’s first artificial intelligence data center is working toward becoming operational. Minnesota-based technology company LiquidCool Solutions leased more than 115,000 square feet of warehouse space to house the center, which is targeted to open within 6 months.
The center will begin with five to six megawatts, but could reach up to 50 at full capacity, a company executive told the Bangor Daily News. That would mean around 20,000 operational servers and potentially a dozen employees.
It’s the first in what development firm Green 4 Maine co-founder Scott Hinkel said will become a “campus” of similar operations on the firm’s Loring land.
“We’ve got three or four buildings now that are perfect for data centers,” Hinkel said in October, adding that Green 4 Maine is in talks with several other companies interested in opening a data center.
And at the heart of Loring, a yearslong battle between the Loring Development Authority and the former base’s air museum over whether to develop or preserve its historic arch hangar came to an end when a global aerospace company that retrofits large aircraft moved into the more-than-100,000-square-foot space.
Kansas City-based Aero Intelligence began using the space in September. The firm expects to retrofit or repair about eight large, wide-body planes a year, owner Varghese Samuel told the Bangor Daily News.
“I want it to be in a location I can relate to. I love to go into locations and try to build up the community,” Samuel said in September, calling the expansion to Loring a low-risk, high-reward opportunity. “We’ve done this in other places and it’s worked fabulously.”
Those investments at Loring, along with others, such as a Canadian power services company expanding to the base, have cemented 2025 as a year of growth for the long-stagnant former military hub.
And with the hiring of Pocock, who moved from Connecticut to become Limestone’s town manager in June, “The collaboration between Loring and Limestone is at a level that is productive for the first time in 20 years,” LDA President and CEO Jonathan Judkins said in August.
Agricultural investment
On the agricultural front, technology and acquisition headlined the year in The County.
A $3 million research lab at the University of Maine’s Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle opened in July, where scientists will use equipment such as X-rays, advanced imaging, chemical sensors and drones to develop new potato varieties.
Funding for the new lab came from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan.
“These investments made here will help grow the next Caribou Russet quicker and advance the next generations of researchers necessary for our industry to adapt and continue producing the highest quality of potatoes in the world right here in Maine,” Maine Potato Board executive director Jeannie Tapley said at the lab’s grand opening.
In November, international potato product producer McCain Foods announced it had agreed to purchase Penobscot McCrum, the specialty potato product producer that operates a more than 115,000-square-foot processing plant in Washburn that opened in 2020.
The acquisition is set to expand McCain’s North American footprint and consolidate the operations of two of The County’s largest potato processing facilities.
The McCrum family farming operation, which spans six generations in Aroostook County, will remain independently owned and will enter a “long-term” potato supply agreement with McCain.
Major commerce heads north
Big business also made headlines, with international retailers and a Maine-based franchise announcing moves to Aroostook.
The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, established its first location in Maine by opening a delivery station in Caribou.
The site, first reported by the Bangor Daily News in June, officially opened in the Caribou Light Industrial Park on Aug. 15. It’s a part of a more than $4 billion effort by the company to expand its rural delivery network, cutting out carriers like UPS or FedEx that were previously used as last-mile service for Amazon packages in central Aroostook.
The company spent just over $4.4 million to renovate the warehouse, according to a building permit obtained by the BDN.
“From day one, we’ve worked with this company to ensure that they had what they needed to succeed here, and the results have already been impressive,” Caribou City Manager Penny Thompson said during the facility’s grand opening. “Our residents are enjoying both faster deliveries and new flexible job opportunities. What’s particularly gratifying is seeing Amazon recognize what we have always known: Caribou’s strategic location and talented workforce make us an excellent partner for business.”
East Coast coffee chain Aroma Joe’s and international fast food brand Wendy’s are also in the process of establishing County locations for the first time.
It will be the Scarborough-based coffee franchise’s first northern Maine location. The company has spread rapidly across the state, and most recently announced it would open a Bucksport drive-thru.
The restaurants, both proposed for an area of North Street in Houlton just off Interstate 95, came one step closer to becoming a reality following the approval of a traffic permit in July.