FREEPORT — A Freeport business was among a list of three businesses recently awarded with a Tech-Start grant from the Maine Technology Institute (MTI), to conduct research and development into new products.

Yankee & Associates LLC plans to use the $5,000 to assess the financial and technical possibility of operating a local food processing center in the Brunswick-Topsham area.

A press release from MTI states the ultimate goal of the project is “to provide a means for local farmers to access new markets and add value to their vegetable and fruit products while at the same time providing consumers and institutional food buyers with access to frozen local food on a year-round basis.”

Such a center would process and package food for retail or wholesale by the farmer or other distributors.

The two other recipients in this round of grants were: MaineAsia LLC of Portland, which is working on a design for a photovoltaic greenhouse that would allow farmers to generate electricity while growing crops, and Mingle Analytics LLC, of South Paris, which is developing a reporting application for health care providers aimed at integrating currently fragmented data sources.

Each recipient was awarded $5,000 and is required to have at least a one-to-one match from another investor.

For more information, visit www.mainetechnology.org.

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