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Notes from APP and NMDC
Volume 1, Issue 36
Feb. 15, 2013
In This Issue
Biomass Savings
Titan Challenge
"Climate Change" Roundtable

NMMC shows off the latest biomass conversion in

the region 

 

   FORT KENT - Northern Maine Medical Center (NMCC) in Fort Kent is the latest facility to make the switch to heating with biomass. Hospital officials recently held an open house to show off the project, which came together with assistance from many organizations, including Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC).

   "NMDC was instrumental in helping to secure $750,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for Northern Maine Medical Center," said Alain Ouellette, planning and development division director.

   The grant, along with a USDA guaranteed loan of $6.7 million in partnership with Katahdin Trust Company, made it possible for NMMC to replace inefficient and woefully outdated oil fired boiler units with a state of the art wood chip gasifier and boiler system. The conversion to biomass will save the hospital an estimated $200,000 a year.

   "The project is in-keeping with federal and state initiatives aimed at promoting renewable energy, reducing dependence on foreign oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, job creation and retention and above all the project will provide NMMC with significant energy cost savings," added Ouellette. "Wood chips are produced locally by the area's forest products industry, making this project all the more economically integrated."

   According to hospital officials, NMCC is the only hospital in Maine that has a biomass boiler.

   "Northern Maine Medical Center is a major player in the northern Maine economy and has been since 1952," said NMDC Executive Director Bob Clark. "This effort also represents their long standing commitment to energy conservation and ensures a sustainable presence in the region serving the healthcare needs of the St. John Valley and beyond."

   The completion of the NMCC biomass project is the latest in a string of large-scale conversions. In the last two years Northern Maine Community College, University of Maine Fort Kent, several Aroostook high schools and area businesses have switched to a biomass heating solution, which fits in with a focus area of the Aroostook Partnership for Progress.

   "As the Partnership has been promoting biomass, holding biomass fairs, emphasizing the advantages of weaning off oil - for companies to be able to save money, as well as keep more money in our local economy versus sending it out of state, we think the NMMC conversion is excellent, said APP President and CEO Bob Dorsey. "It also continues the great trend we see in the St. John Valley on conversions with NMMC now joining the University of Maine at Fort Kent and Fort Kent High School as pioneers in this great effort."

   Residential and commercial conversions will be the focus of the second APP Biomass Fair to be held April 6 at the University of Maine Fort Kent. 

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Students take the Titan Challenge with help from business mentors 
Titan Challenge
    APP President and CEO Bob Dorsey mentors students from Presque Isle High School during the Junior Achievement Titan Challenge held Wednesday at the University of Maine Presque Isle. Members of the team are, from left: Danielle Allen, Dorsey, Karson Eaton and Drew Barrett.

 

   PRESQUE ISLE - The next titan of industry may have gotten his or her start this week at Junior Achievement of Maine's seventh annual Titan Challenge.

   High school students from Caribou, Fort Kent, Houlton, Presque Isle and Van Buren participated in the event Wednesday at the University of Maine Presque Isle. Statewide 103 teams from nearly 30 schools took part at college campuses from Biddeford to Presque Isle.

   Using an Internet based simulation; Junior Achievement of Maine designed a daylong business strategy competition for youngsters. The competition was designed to unleash creativity, test leadership and demonstrate the competitive nature of the free enterprise system in a global marketplace.

   "Junior Achievement's main goal is to get students and business people to interact," said Mark Wilcox of Dead River Company and the chair of the Aroostook County area Junior Achievement Board. "The game itself is important because it is as real life as a simulation can be. You make tough decisions and you take risks just like you do in business and that is as real as it gets."

   Students formed teams of three and were matched with a community business mentor to compete with other high schools/business consultant teams. Students made decisions on price production, marketing, capital investments, research and development and charitable/community giving.

   Presque Isle High School junior Andrew Dyer used the experience to better prepare himself for college and possibly win a scholarship.

   "It would be nice to win a scholarship, but just learning how a business works before I go off to college is important," he said.

   Aroostook Partnership for Progress President Bob Dorsey served as a team mentor during the competition. He said Junior Achievement could serve as a model to get youngsters better acquainted with business and becoming an entrepreneur.

   "The Partnership is involved because retention of students in The County to fill our 18- to 44-year-old workforce is very important and getting students exposed to business principals early is a real advantage," said Dorsey. "I am delighted we have 14 teams from five schools here. You never know one of these students may well start up a business that thrives in Aroostook and wouldn't that be great."

   Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs.

   Held on college campuses, the JA Titan Challenge also gave students an opportunity to tour a college campus and learn more about college business programs.

"Climate Change" roundtable scheduled for February 26 at UMPI Campus Center

   PRESQUE ISLE - "Climate Change" will be the focus of a roundtable discussion at the University of Maine Presque Isle Tuesday, Feb. 26 at noon.

   The forum, sponsored by the University and Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC), consisting of stakeholders, students and area professionals will explore issues and concerns related to climate change and the possible mitigation of these issues which can be used by our communities for long range planning and sustainable development.

   The discussion will focus on the efforts of UMPI's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) land use analysis of underused and historic available farmlands in conjuntion with ongoing studies in the cultivation of biomass fuels and NMDC's GROWashington Aroostook initiative Climate Change Component.   GROWashington-Aroostook is a regional planning process focused on job creation, modern infrastructure and healthy, affordable communities in the counties of Aroostook and Washington.

   The meeting, scheduled from noon to 2 p.m., is in the Allagash Room at the Campus Center.

   For more information, contact Ken Murchison at NMDC, 498-8736, or by email at kmurchison@nmdc.org.

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