BRUNSWICK
The Maine Technology Institute recently approved six more challenge grant awards from the Maine Technology Asset Fund 2.0 program, which is financed by a bond approved by voters in June 2017. MTI manages it on behalf of the state.
Among the recipients was SaviLinx of Brunswick.
Projects and innovations include helping to bolster the global competitiveness of some of Maine’s traditional industries like lobster processing, paper making and textiles, and fostering growth in emerging industries like software aggregation and advanced additive manufacturing.
A summary of awards:
• Verso Corporation of Jay, award amount: $4,000,000
Total project cost: $17,000,000
The Verso Androscoggin Mill currently manufactures specialty and graphic papers for converters, commercial printers, paper merchants and brokers, publishers and other end users. The project supported by the MTI grant will include capital upgrades to the shuttered pulp line and No. 3 paper machine at the mill, allowing this equipment to restart for the manufacture of packaging grades.
• SmartLam, award amount: $3,000,000
Total project cost: $22,500,000
Founded in 2012, SmartLam is the first manufacturer of cross-laminated timber in the U.S. CLT is an engineered wood building material and sustainable alternative to traditional building materials like steel, concrete and masonry. Site selection for a facility is in progress and will be completed within the next two months.
• Ready Seafood Company of Saco, award amount: $2,250,000
Total project cost: $6,000,000
Ready Seafood recently purchased a 40-acre property to develop a Maine lobster full utilization campus. The goal of this project is to maximize the value of Maine’s lobster resource by collaborating with Maine’s top lobster scientists to develop holding methods to ensure that more of Maine’s lobster harvest can be shipped and processed to meet the demands of growing markets.
• Sea Bags of Portland, award amount: $1,000,000
Total project cost: $4,000,000
Sea Bags has been handcrafting totes and accessories from recycled sails on Custom House Wharf in Portland since 1999. The company’s award will be used to develop new precision manufacturing capabilities to build capacity and accelerate growth in customized products, which are already the top seller and competitive differentiator at the company.
• Arcast of Oxford, award amount: $187,500
Total project cost: $500,000
Arcast Inc. is a relatively young company, but one that has made its mark in the field of metallurgical processing. The company has built an international portfolio of customers for its process equipment, which includes arc-melting systems and inert-gasatomizers for the production of high purity metal powders. Arcast is now expanding operations into powder production, employing its own technological developments.
• SaviLinx of Brunswick, award amount: $95,000
Total project cost: $245,239
SaviLinx was founded on Brunswick Landing by Maine native Heather Blease in 2013 providing business process outsourcing contact services to the public and private sectors. The company’s operational success led to its rank as the 28th fastest growing company in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine with more than 400 employees in less than five years. The grant enables SaviLinx to create an innovative system called the SaviLinx Enterprise Information Management System that will enable the delivery of enhanced professional services providing strategic information and analytics to their clients.
“As I noted when we made our earlier MTAF2.0 award announcements, MTI is humbled by the responsibility to review, evaluate and confer these funds,” said Brian Whitney, MTI’s president. “These decisions have been extremely challenging given the breadth of the quality project proposals that we received. I commend MTI’s staff and board for its efforts in vetting and assessing these proposals and making decisions that maximize economic impact across Maine.”
MTI is a publicly financed, private, nonprofit organization created by the Legislature in 1999 to stimulate research and development activity leading to the commercialization of new products, processes and services in the state’s seven targeted technology sectors.
For information on other MTI programs, events and resources, visit mainetechnology.org.
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