NBRC's funding hike targets forest-based industries
Courtesy / Office of Sen. Susan Collins
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, reported that $15 million in funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission is included in the energy and water development appropriations bill.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, reported that $15 million in funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission is included in the energy and water development appropriations bill.
The bill’s language specified that at least $3 million of that funding is to be used to address the decline in forest-based economies throughout the four-state region served by the commission, which includes northern Maine.
The $15 million that was approved, Collins added in a news release, is an increase of $5 million over the previous year.
The energy and water development appropriations bill will now be considered by the full Senate.
“The Northern Border Regional Commission is a critical source of investment for northern Maine communities, helping to grow their economies and create jobs,” Collins said. “I am encouraged that this bill increases support for this important organization, including additional funding to bolster the forest products industry.”
Created by Congress in 2008, the NBRC is a federal-state partnership that was designed to help alleviate economic distress and encourage private sector job creation throughout the northern counties of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. NBRC investments in Maine from 2010-16 totaled nearly $5.5 million.
In 2016 NBRC awarded almost $2 million in funding for eight projects in Maine, which leveraged $6.69 million in matching funds. Awards included a Maine Department of Transportation project to upgrade the Sheridan Rail Bridge on the state-owned Madawaska subdivision in Aroostook County to allow 286,000-pound railcar loadings at 25 mph track speeds. The $250,000 grant was matched by $2.4 million.
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