LEWISTON – The rising prominence of transportation in the cities’ economic future prompted an invitation from planners to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
It’s been accepted.
Tyler Duval, assistant secretary for transportation policy at the DOT, will be the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council.
Duval works closely with the administrators of DOT’s various modal and safety programs in the development of surface and maritime transportation policies. In addition, he coordinates the department’s implementation of President Bush’s executive order to streamline the environmental reviews of transportation projects.
“I think he’ll be focusing on the future of transportation systems, particularly as they relate to Maine and New England,” said Paul Badeau, marketing director for the LAEGC, who issued the invitation.
Badeau said the growth council wanted to have a federal transportation official as a keynote speaker because of what’s happening locally. “There are a lot of critical transportation projects going on in the community,” he said. “I think it’s appropriate to have someone from the U.S. Department of Transportation to lend some perspective to that” and compare it with what is happening nationally.
Economic planners are touting Lewiston and Auburn’s assets as a transportation and logistics hub. Among them are the U.S. Customs port in Auburn; the St. Lawrence and Atlantic railway; the newly designated Foreign Trade Zone; the municipal airport; two exits off the Maine Turnpike; and several development areas designated as tax-break Pine Tree Zones.
“All of these make us much more attractive as a transportation hub,” said Badeau.
To further these efforts, Auburn City Council recently approved a $3 million bond to develop a new industrial park within the Foreign Trade Zone. Bisson Transportation of West Bath announced last month that it intends to build a $13 million warehouse and distribution center within the new park to take advantage of the transportation amenities. The same package of benefits has also drawn interest from other prospective tenants for the new park, said Badeau.
The growth council also intends to make a video presentation at the meeting that highlights some of its future projects. Badeau said he hopes to show plans depicting the Pontiac Building in Lewiston’s Southern Gateway as a modern business center. He also plans to show updated sketches of the mixed-use project at Island Point near Libbey Mill and the office towers project at Great Falls. There might be an artist’s rendition of the Bisson building available then, as well.
“We’d like to focus somewhat on projects coming up in the future, ones that people don’t know the specifics of,” he said.
The annual meeting is set for Tuesday, May 10, at the Bates College Gray Athletic Building. It begins at 4:30 p.m. with a networking reception, followed by the chairman’s remarks, dinner, economic achievement awards and Duval’s address at 7:30 p.m.
The cost is $45 per person, or a table of eight for $315. Registrations can be made by contacting the growth council at 784-0161, or by e-mail to [email protected]
Before joining the DOT, Duval worked from 1998 to 2002 as an associate in the Business and Finance Group of Hogan & Hartson LLP, the largest law firm in Washington, D.C. While there, he represented various public and private companies in a wide range of business dealings, including mergers, acquisitions and securities filings. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and his bachelor of arts with a major in economics from Washington and Lee University.
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