Bond Issues on June Ballot Include Funding for USM Initiatives
Question #2 on the June ballot --a $34.9 million general bond issue to stimulate job growth, promote homeland security and tourism-- includes $9 million so that the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine can provide critical educational and technical assistance services to Maine manufacturers.
More than 70 businesses from Caribou to Kittery have told the universities that lack of access to advanced manufacturing technologies is a major impediment to economic growth and job creation and retention. In response, USM and UM developed a joint manufacturing assistance program but current facilities cannot handle the demand.
Passage of Question #2 would help fund needed campus-based facilities, including a 20,000-square-foot Technology Assistance and Training Facility to be added to the John Mitchell Center on USM’s Gorham campus. In endorsing the proposal, Godfrey Wood of the Greater Portland Chambers of Commerce said, “Maine's dwindling number of manufacturers need more support in factory design, product design and testing, and the latest computer-aided manufacturing technologies. This support is essential if Maine businesses are to retain and create jobs.”
Question #2 also includes funding for biomed research so that our partners in that critical sector of the Maine economy can continue research to address life-threatening illnesses.
Question #1 on the June 11 ballot is a $28.5 million bond which would provide funds for renovations to public schools and allow the university and technical college systems to install sprinklers in dormitories.
>more news releases
|
