Contact: Antonia Ferrier (202) 224-5344
Friday, February 3, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins and Congressmen Tom Allen and Mike Michaud are pleased to announce that the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded Maine a $15-million Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant to aid economic development partnerships.

Members of Maine’s Congressional Delegation wrote to Elaine Chao, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, last month urging her to support a proposal by Maine’s North Star Alliance for grant funding under the WIRED initiative. The North Star Alliance has assembled an array of supporting regional partners and has leveraged substantial resources to expand employment and advancement opportunities and to catalyze the creation of high-skill and high-wage jobs. In its letter, the delegation pointed out that the State of Maine sought the funding to transform and revitalize its economic landscape in response to the announced closure of Brunswick Naval Air Station (BNAS) and losses in its natural resource-based and manufacturing sectors. The scheduled closure of BNAS will result in the loss of approximately 5,000 jobs; workforce reductions at nearby Bath Iron Works have already resulted in the loss of over 1,100 jobs. These circumstances, coupled with the decline of other major sectors of the State’s economy, underscore the urgent need for funding to implement economic and workforce redevelopment strategies.

The WIRED initiative is designed to help create high-skill, high-wage jobs. Eleven of Maine’s sixteen counties will directly benefit from this three-year, $15-million, grant-- the primary focus being the Brunswick and Midcoast regions that have been particularly hard hit by job losses and the closure of BNAS. This initiative will also facilitate increased collaboration among stakeholders along the coast from Kennebunkport to Calais and inland to Lewiston, Greenville, and Orono.

"We are excited to learn that U.S. Department of Labor recognizes the realities of our changing regional economy and has chosen Maine to receive this important funding," said the members of Maine’s Congressional Delegation in a joint statement. "This grant, along with the resources committed by the regional partners of the North Star Alliance will provide the necessary business, research & development, education, workforce, and economic development resources that will help enhance workforce skills and facilitate the growth of a new regional economy."

The U.S. Department of Labor has selected 12 economic regions from across the country to assist in the networking of their regional assets. In addition to the funding, each region will be provided on-going expertise from several of the leading organizations in the field of innovation.

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