11/2/2009 - NEWS ADVISORY
City of Portland
389 Congress Street
Portland, Maine 04101
www.portlandmaine.gov
CONTACT: Nicole Clegg, 207-756-8173, 207-272-4477 (cell) nicoleclegg@portlandmaine.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2009

City Council to Receive $660,000 for Technology Park Tonight
Federal funds to pay for infrastructure construction for new campus-like business park

PORTLAND, Maine: Tonight, the Portland City Council will officially accept $660,000 from an Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to assist with costs for Phase I of the development of the Portland Technology Park. These funds will be used to pay for road construction and utility installation on twenty-six acres of city-owned land on Rand Road adjacent to the Maine Turnpike Exit 47. The Portland Technology Park has been designed to attract high technology firms with particular emphasis on life sciences (biotechnology) and information technology, both of which support well-paying jobs and often generate spin-off companies. By clustering these types of businesses at the Portland Technology Park, the city is hoping to make the location an attractive option to knowledge-based companies looking for more effective networking, and opportunities to exchange ideas and share resources with industry colleagues. Ideally, when coupled with the city’s quality of life, this park will help turn the Greater Portland area into a regional center for technology businesses.

The Portland Technology Park property has been designed as a campus-like business park for high tech companies including those doing research and development as well as manufacturing for biotechnology, pharmaceutical and nanotechnology firms. A request for proposals for the road and utility construction will be issued this spring with a start date for the summer. By the fall of 2010, the nine building pads ranging in size from 6,000 to 13,000 square feet will be available for purchase within this condominium business park.

The construction of the Portland Technology Park is part of a regional effort with Scarborough, South Portland and Westbrook to grow the Greater Portland region’s emerging biotech and information technology economy. The City of Westbrook was a co-applicant for the EDA grant and received $225,000 to be used for improvements to the Five Star Industrial Park, the home of IDEXX. To help promote the sales of the properties, the city’s Economic Development Division in collaboration with the three other communities will be marketing the region at the international Bio 2010 Show in Chicago in May.

When: Monday, November 2, 2009
7:00 PM

Where: City Council Chambers
Portland

###