GreenME project to help industry leaders transition homes, businesses to heating with locally grown fuel sources
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Energy leaders of Aroostook County identified back in early 2010 the economic boon that could come through heating the region’s homes and businesses with locally grown fuel sources; that concept, born of Aroostook minds, now goes by official project title “GreenME” and was allocated $1,928,225 as announced on Sept. 22 by leading Obama Administration officials.
GreenME is a multifaceted project with one of its main goals being the transition of 9,000 regional residential units and 20 commercial facilities to primary or supplemental wood biomass fuel within four years; these goals may seem ambitious, but they weren’t drawn up overnight — GreenME’s roots extend back to early 2010.
Many will recall that the Mobilize Northern Maine Initiative, through the Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) and Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP), sought to identify two major “clusters” of potential business development — the Renewable Energy Industry Cluster and the Information Technology Cluster.
Back then, members of the energy cluster recognized that Aroostook County spent approximately $16 million a year on number two fuel oil. About 78 percent of that figure — roughly $12 million dollars — used to purchase fuel oil left the county and state. With an emphasis on wood pellet and wood chip heating and supplemental heating, the cluster identified ways to start keeping hard-earned northern Maine dollars circulating in the region.
“This project is based on the assets and strengths of the region that are within our control,” said Bob Clark, executive director of NMDC. “We hope to generate a renewable energy economy for Aroostook and Washington counties by utilizing existing alternative energy sources, applying innovation and retaining money that normally flows out of our region to stimulate the economy.”
But there’s more than the nearly $2 million award that just promoting wood pellets, as the project’s funding was allocated through three separate entities with each award serving a distinct purpose.
• $782,500 came from the Economic Development Administration, intended to strengthen the cluster’s regional innovation and implementation capabilities, provide an increased scope of asset mapping, aid in leadership and resource networking, identify the potential in exporting pellets to the European Market and help entrepreneurs develop sustainable operations through improved technical and business practices.
• $150,000 was allocated by the Small Business Administration to aid NMDC in overseeing activity development of GreenME by, among other things, offering training sessions in entrepreneurship, one-on-one business technical assistance and coordination of regional peer-to-peer networking groups, providing start-ups with strategies for loan proposal development and assisting with access to financing organizations.
• $995,725 was awarded by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration to assist in training workers in high demand fields, like mechanical engineers, biological technicians, electrical engineers and engineering managers.
As Clark described, the funding promotes every aspect of the value stream that starts in the northern Maine woods — from beginning in the forest and working with the wood contractors to the transportation and manufacturing of pellets, chips and other biomass projects.
A timeline has yet to be established for the dispersal of those funds, though Clark estimated that programs should be up and running by the first of 2012.
But as the renewable energy industry is grown, entrepreneurs and their businesses nurtured and the potential green-energy work pool is granted assistance financially in obtaining their college degrees, GreenME’s success all goes back to a room at the Northern Maine Development Commission where energy leaders volunteered their time to discuss the potential in their industry.
“Without all the work done through Mobilize Northern Maine, this wouldn’t have been possible,” Clark said.
GreenME was one of 20 high-growth regional industry clusters that received a combined total of $37 million. The average award was approximately $1.8 million.
“This cluster initiative will bring together a diverse and experienced group of partners to focus on the common goal of moving this region forward,” said Congressman Mike Michaud. “Most importantly, it will help Maine create jobs at a time we need it most,” he added. “It also has the added benefit of promoting the adoption of affordable renewable energy, which will save Mainers money in the long run and benefit home owners and businesses alike.”
