Maine builder gets $300,000 grant
THOMASTON, Maine – Lyman-Morse Boat Building Co.’s received a $290,000 in the form of a grant and tax incentives from the state of Maine to buoy a business expansion that will create 30 jobs, the Bangor News reported in a story yesterday.
Lyman-Morse matched the 50-50 grant, bringing the amount to be invested in the boat building operation to $580,000. The money will pay for 30 jobs with salaries averaging $30,000 annually, completion of a 12,000-square-foot building started seven years ago and new equipment, the News reported.
Gov. John Baldacci was on hand for the presentation of the block grant from Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development.
Over the next decade, industry experts say, Maine’s boat sales could rise from $650 million to more than $1 billion, the newspaper quoted Baldacci as saying.
“We’re trying to galvanize the boat building business … to grow it to be more than a billion dollars,” Baldacci said.
The Thomaston boat builder, known for its multimillion-dollar luxury yachts, has been building boats in Maine since the 1800s. The company employs 108 workers.
“A big chunk” of the money will pay for a concrete slab, heat and electricity for the unfinished building, which will provide the opportunity to work indoors on boats during winter, J.B. Turner, vice president of Lyman-Morse, told the newspaper.
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