WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a member of both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, announced on May 20 that she has helped Maine Military Authority (MMA) in Limestone secure a sizable contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) to refurbish 80 high-tech, communications humvees for the United States Army Communications-Electronics Command.
This $3.2 million contract will help secure jobs at MMA through 2012, and it comes less than two weeks after Senator Collins announced that the Army National Guard Bureau has agreed to send 50 five-ton trucks to MMA for immediate service and production-preventing further layoffs.
In total, the Army has provided $9.3 million in new work since Sen. Collins brought a contingent of senior Army officials to MMA in April 2010 that included Major General Raymond Carpenter, the chief of the Army National Guard; Kathleen Marin, director of installation services at the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management of the Army; and Kathryn Condon, special assistant to Under Secretary of the Army, Dr. Joseph Westphal.
Sen. Collins met with Undersecretary Westphal in her Washington, D.C. office on May 20, where he discussed the details of the work with her. Sen. Collins expressed her gratitude to Dr. Westphal, whom she has known since he was Chancellor of the University of Maine System.
The new contract was made possible after MMA was recently added to the GSA schedule with the assistance of Sen. Collins. The new contracting method makes it easier for the Army to send work to MMA.
MMA has been a key provider of humvee repair for the U.S. Army and National Guard for the past 13 years. In an effort to help preserve jobs in Limestone, Senator Collins has repeatedly urged the Army and National Guard to explore additional work opportunities for MMA as the reset of humvees has declined. She has discussed work opportunities at MMA with Secretary of the Army John McHugh, former Army Chief of Staff George Casey and others.
“This is exciting and encouraging news for people who work at MMA, their families, and for the northern Maine economy,” said Sen. Collins. “For more than a decade, the professionals at MMA have demonstrated their value to the Army and the National Guard Bureau by performing important, innovative and cost-efficient work. I am delighted to have worked to secure this additional work-which, along with the work announced earlier this month, will help save jobs in Aroostook County.”