Steve Levesque, longtime MRRA director who led rebirth of Brunswick airbase, will retire
File Photo / Tim Greenway
Steve Levesque, shown in a recent file photo and from an early issue of Mainebiz, will retire at the end of 2021 after a 41-year career including serving as the first and only executive director of the MRRA since 2008.
Steve Levesque, longtime executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority who led the transformation of Brunswick’s shuttered naval air station into a thriving business community, will retire Dec. 31.
Levesque, a 2018 Mainebiz Business Leader of the Year, will be succeeded by Kristine Logan, MRRA’s deputy director of innovation and development and director of the TechPlace business incubator at Brunswick Landing, according to a news release Thursday.
Logan will begin her new role in January 2022 and over the coming months will work with the MRRA board of trustees and staff to make the transition.
The change caps a 41-year career for Levesque, who has served as MRRA’s first and only executive director since its formation in 2008. He previously was executive director of the Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority, which developed the master plan for the reuse of U.S. Naval Air Station Brunswick.
The Midcoast Authority, a public municipal corporation, was established by the Maine Legislature to oversee the reuse plans for the NASB and its Topsham annex. The 3,400-acre airbase closed in 2011.
Since then, the campus has become the site of the Brunswick Landing business park, the TechPlace incubator, Topsham Commerce Park and Brunswick Executive Airport. The reborn base has more than replaced the former economic impact of the Navy, with over 2,400 jobs at 140 businesses and an annual payroll of $150 million, according to MRRA.
The massive development has also attracted over $500 million in private-sector capital investment, as well as property sales to 20 new owners, including more than 650 units of workforce housing.
“We are extremely grateful for Steve’s leadership since he took the helm in 2008,” said Rita Armstrong, MRRA board chair. “MRRA has met or exceeded all of its original goals and objectives and is nationally recognized for being one of the most successful base reuse initiatives.”
Levesque said, “It’s been a tremendous journey and I’ve been fortunate to have been in this role as long as I have; the past 16 years have flown by. It’s been an amazing team effort since day one.”
Among the facilities on the Brunswick Landing campus is TechPlace, where Logan has served as director since 2014. In that role, she oversaw the $5 million conversion of a Navy building into a shared manufacturing site that is now home to 35 businesses.
Logan has 15-plus years of experience in economic development, workforce development and education, according to the release.
“It will be a very smooth transition,” Levesque said. “She’s been a key player for us with what she’s done at TechPlace. She likes to think big and is passionate about the redevelopment effort. Her expertise in economic and business development, her ability to develop strategic partnerships and work with innovative businesses will be important assets for MRRA going forward.”
Levesque serves on a number of industry and economic development boards, including the Loring Redevelopment Authority of Maine, Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corp., Owls Head Transportation Museum and Maine Spaceport Leadership Council.
Before coming to his duties in Brunswick in 2006, Levesque was president of SHL Enterprise Solutions, a management consulting firm based in Hallowell. From 1998 through 2003, he served as commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, and previously held other state and municipal roles. He also worked for environmental management and community and economic development consulting firms in California and Maine.
Leveque was raised in Auburn, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental studies from California State University, Fullerton.
After retiring, he and his wife Lisa will reside in Greenville.
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