RUMFORD – The River Valley Growth Council is waiting for its chance to present a proposal to locate a federally funded health-related facility at the technology center.

Rich Allen, council president, said at Wednesday’s monthly board meeting that the group is trying to create a cluster of health care services in the building.

Community Dental already uses a significant amount of space for its service. Allen said the firm invested nearly a half-million dollars to set up the dental offices.

He said representatives from Community Dental, Rumford Hospital, and others met late last year to plan a strategy to try to bring the federal health-related facility to the building.

“If it comes, it would fill this floor,” Allen said.

He said the council is working with local legislators to try to get the bid for the as-yet unidentified health services organization.

In a related matter, he said a dental hygienist training program is expected to be sited at the technology center. The program would come through York County Community College.

In other matters, Allen said council members recently met with FairPoint Communications spokesman Jeff Nevins to discuss the possibility of upgrading the Internet infrastructure of the technology center.

He said Nevins toured the building to get an idea of what the council is considering for tenants.

He said potential call centers and similar industries have been put off by the lack of up-to-date infrastructure.

“We’ve been stymied,” he said.

FairPoint has divided Maine into six regions. The Rumford technology center is in the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments region.

“Hopefully, something will come from that,” Allen said.

FairPoint investment in the AVCOG region is slated for October.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.