RUMFORD – Maine Metal Products Association plans to set up a satellite office in the River Valley Technology Center next month.
The statewide trade organization also plans to include Northwest Precision Inc., a precision metal manufacturing firm in the tech center, as part of its upcoming tour of similar businesses in Maine and New Brunswick.
Housing a part-time office at the Lowell Street tech center is a good thing for both the metal trades group and the tech center itself.
It fits in with a major part of the tech center’s mission, said center Director Norm MacIntyre.
And for the association, it creates more visibility, association Director Lisa Martin said at a meeting of the center’s board Tuesday afternoon. The office will be staffed part time.
The River Valley Technology Center, dedicated last year as the Joseph P. Derouche Advanced Technology Center, is one of seven such centers set up across the state with a specific technological mission. One of the primary missions of the center is to provide start-up space and training for the precision metal trades industry. Its first tenant, Northwest Precision Inc., moved in a few months ago.
In a related matter, the final class of students graduating with certificates in machine tool technology will be honored at a reception May 19. During the past three years, more than three dozen people have completed the course for the trade through classes offered at Central Maine Community College. A federal grant was provided for the training.
The tech center’s other mission is to establish a variety of bio-products industries. MacIntyre said at least two have shown interest in setting up in the tech center. The tech center building, in addition to housing various state and local offices and small businesses, is in a state-approved Pine Tree Economic Zone, which provides a number of tax exemptions for certain industries.
Also on Tuesday, the town managers of Rumford and Mexico, Steve Eldridge and John Madigan, respectively, were appointed to the technology center board.
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