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V O L . X X V I I I N O. X V I I A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 2 2 6 SpacePort effort gets lift from feds e proposed Maine SpacePort — a complex that could include a commercial rocket launch site in Limestone and "mission control" in Brunswick — got a boost from the award of $1.2 million in new fed- eral funding. e U.S. Economic Development Administration pro- vided the grant to the Maine Space Grant Consortium for final plan- ning around workforce develop- ment, business development and external engagement needs for the Maine Spaceport, according to a news release. e EDA funding will be matched by $407,407 in state and local funds. In 2020, the consor- tium received a $445,000 grant from the EDA to begin developing the SpacePort plan. State legislation that year also created a leadership council to come up with a proposal and pro- mote the emerging private spaceflight industry in Maine. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E UScellular donated $30,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine in Portland and $30,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Waterville to support K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and aca- demic enrichment programs. Machias Savings Bank announced that it awarded a total of $100,000 in Community Development grants to 18 nonprofit organizations around the state. YMCA to close its Pineland facility e YMCA of Southern Maine said it will permanently close its Pineland Farms branch in New Gloucester, at 25 Campus Drive, effective Sept. 2. e Y said the plan is part of its strategy pivot "from a facility- based model to a community-based approach," President and CEO Helen L. Breña wrote in a letter to members. e pandemic has changed the way the people want to inter- act, she said, affecting operations at YMCA facilities nationwide. During the early weeks of the public health crisis, all of the southern Maine branches suspended their in-person programming. Kelley to retire from KeyBank Four years after taking the helm as president at KeyBank in Maine, Raymond T. "Chip" Kelley plans to retire at the end of November. Kelley has been leading commer- cial sales efforts in Maine and New Hampshire since joining KeyBank in 2005. He succeeded the late Sterling Kozlowski as KeyBank's Maine market president in August 2018. Kelley was also commercial sales leader for eastern Massachusetts and the greater Boston market until 2019, when that responsibility was transferred to James Barger. Barger was recently promoted to the bank's commercial sales executive for all of New England, with the Maine, Connecticut and Vermont mar- ket presidents all reporting to him. Barger, who is conducting a search for Kelley's successor, plans to work with Kelley over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N The Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced that it opened an office at 457 Alfred St. in Biddeford. B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N B R I E F Brewery and much-needed housing proposed for Skowhegan's legacy textile mill B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n S k o w h e g a n — Driving into Skowhegan, one of the first things you see is a substantial mill building — with four stories and at 80,000 square feet, it's hard to miss. It's expected to become at least a $10 million to $15 million redevelopment. The Spinning Mill, at 7 Island Ave., was once home to the thriving Maine Spinning Co. At its height, from the 1940s to the 1970s, the mill had 300 employees and produced up to 2 million pounds of yarn per year. It was vacant for more than a decade until 2017, when it was bought by Jeff and Pam Powers, owners of Bigelow Brewing. Their hope was and still is to have a substantial brewing presence on the first floor — with brewing, canning and a retail brew pub. But for the overall transformation of the mill, they're turning to a partnership with some experience in revitalizing historic buildings. Enter Dash Davidson and partner Max Patinkin, who run Bangor-based High Tide Capital. They recently completed the redevelopment of 2 Hammond St. in Bangor. They have two other building revitalization projects going on in Bangor and another that's just about to start. With an introduction from Heather Johnson, the Maine commissioner for economic and community development, the High Tide Capital team met with the Powers. The High Tide team is formulating plans for a makeover. "We are historic developers who focus exclusively on restoring underutilized historically significant buildings in downtown locations," said Davidson, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native who has a residence in Bangor. The building would include the ground-floor brewing oper- ation, 45 much-needed apartments on the upper floors. Skowhegan's rental market is fully subscribed, with less than 1% vacancy, The mill redevelopment has been talked about for a num- ber of years. But now with the partnership of Bigelow Brewing and High Tide Capital, the project is expected to get key backing in Skowhegan. The project has not yet gone before the town's zoning board. Jeff and Pam Powers have been running Bigelow Brewing on Bigelow Hill Road in Skowhegan since 2013. It's expected that having the brewery as an anchor in the downtown will bolster projects in the works, including a planned river park and river walk, as well as other downtown projects. For all of the buildings High Tide Capital has done or is doing in Bangor, it has worked with the Bangor office of First National Bank. Ben Sprague is the vice president of commercial lending. With Bangor projects, Coastal Enterprises Inc. has played a role in helping get historic tax credits. In Bangor, High Tide has worked with WBRC Architects. On this proj- ect, it will likely work with Connecticut architect De-Jan Lu. Nova Concepts handled the renderings. Orono-based Pike Project Development will be the general contractor. R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y O F N OVA C O N C E P T S As shown in a rendering, the proposal for Skowhegan's vacant Spinning Mill calls for a ground-floor Bigelow Brewing production site and up to 50 apartments.

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