Development group wants Greenville to retain incubator building

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    GREENVILLE — The Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation and Greenville Board of Selectmen held a workshop Friday morning to discuss the future of the now-vacant business incubator building in the town’s industrial park.
    In summary, the corporation’s message to the town was simple: The building should not be sold and we’re willing to help you find a tenant.

    Pepin Associates, the research and development firm that has occupied the building for several years, scaled back its operation last June and moved its equipment into another smaller building in the park. Company president John Pepin said at the time that lack of government aerospace contracts due to the sequestration forced him to cut back.
    The 11,200 square-foot incubator building was built in 2004 and includes a loading dock, receiving area, three-phase power and warehouse space.
    Town Manager John Simko said that a recent town meeting vote authorized the board of selectmen to “sell the building if it chose to do so. But the selectmen and I have been wrestling with this situation, wondering what about the best way to go.” At the same time, Simko said, MLREDC approached the town about the status of the building.
    MLREDC President Luke Muzzy said the organization’s mission is “to help out the town in any way we can. We feel that the incubator building is very, very important … We want to offer help to bring that building up to its main purpose: to bring jobs to the community.” Muzzy said if the building was sold, “Its purpose would not be fulfilled if it stays empty or just used for storage.”
    Simko also noted that since a large portion of the construction funds came from grants with specific job-creation requirements, the town could be on the hook for about $175,000 “if it was put in private hands.”
    Committee member Steve Levesque, who was the Maine Economic Development Corporation Director under former Gov. Angus King, recalled that the incubator building program was started during that administration. “The Greenville building is the only community-owned one in the whole portfolio,” Levesque said. “All the others are owned by development corporations or other entities.”
    “This (building) is a gem,” Levesque said. “The economy is eventually going to turn around, and having that building available is going to be significant. That’s why we’re willing to work with you folks to do something about it.”
    Muzzy noted that one problem is that “not many people outside of Greenville know about it. We feel that there are outfits out there that may have interest.” Former tenant John Pepin “came here on vacation, fell in love with the place and opened his business here,” Muzzy said. “Many businesses in the area start that way.”
    Levesque added that one reason MLCEDC incorporated was so they “could buy and manage real estate, which is typical of what other corporations across the country are doing.”
    Muzzy said the structure is a “million dollar building appraised for a fraction of the cost. We don’t have much land left in Greenville for economic development or industrial use.”
    The corporation’s offer will be formally discussed at the Jan. 15 selectmen’s meeting.