Even in the light of a global recession, Lewiston-Auburn continues to benefit from a number of new economic development and community enhancement projects. Today’s Lewiston-Auburn is a very different and more dynamic place than the Twin Cities of a decade ago.

Over the past 30 years, the state’s second largest population center has steadily transitioned from relying on textile, shoe and traditional manufacturing to robust sectors such as health care, high-precision manufacturing, distribution/logistics, financial and business services, and the creative economy.

Last year, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud announced that federal funding had been approved to build a new Veterans Administration clinic in Lewiston. The new $20 million, 32,000-square-foot community-based outpatient clinic for military veterans has broken ground in Lewiston and will be located at 15 Challenger Drive off the Alfred A. Plourde Parkway.

The clinic will offer eye exams, mental health care, meetings with cardiac and pulmonary specialists and hearing exams. By 2012, the center expects to be treating an estimated 6,000 veterans.

Call centers continue to migrate to the Twin Cities. Argo Marketing Group, working in conjunction with the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, moved into their new 5,000-square-foot, second floor location at 415 Lisbon Street in Lewiston creating an additional 50 new jobs. A full-service direct-response marketing firm specializing in vendor management, quality control, call center development and campaign management, Argo continues to set the industry standard for efficiency.

Located in the Auburn Mall, the TD Bank Call Center is now up and running. The state-of-the-art, 60,000-square-foot facility will employ up to 500 representatives 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year. The environmentally friendly call center will soon achieve LEED Gold certification and is developed to have a low impact on the environment.

According to PR Newswire, TD bank has a 10-year lease on the cornerstone property in the Auburn Mall with the price tag for the project at an estimated $16 million.

L-A’s health care industry is the largest in the area, as more people in Lewiston-Auburn are employed in health care related work than any other profession. Bedard Medical recently expanded operations into Auburn, building a new state-of-the-art facility at 359 Minot Avenue. The 60,000-square-foot, $4.3-million facility will house the corporate offices, Bedard Senior Care, Bedard Medical, a new pharmacy and employ approximately 45-50 employees.

Just as Lewiston-Auburn was built largely as a result of the power of the Androscoggin River as an energy source, L-A is being redefined and recreated in part by the strength of its transportation, distribution, and logistics industry.

The area’s central location in the state is a major selling point, as nearly half the state’s population is located with 30 miles of L-A. Lewiston-Auburn’s strategic location is enhanced by two turnpike exits with direct access to I-95; two railroads, including St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (operated by Genesee & Wyoming), with international connections to deep sea ports via Canadian National; and a busy and growing airport.

The area also has a double-stack rail-to-truck intermodal facility located at a U.S. Customs port of entry. Excluding oil deliveries, if measured by the sheer volume of cargo containers, the Port of Auburn, an inland facility, is busier than the Port of Portland, Maine and is the state of Maine’s busiest port.

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Commerce approved creation of a General Purpose Foreign Trade Zone in Auburn. Foreign Trade Zone #263 sits on 760 acres and benefits qualifying companies that conduct international trade by eliminating, reducing, or deferring the payment of tariffs or duties on products or raw materials. The Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council can provide Foreign Trade Zone services to companies within a 60-mile radius or 90-minute drive.

Some of the area’s major employers in transportation and logistics include Poland Spring, LePage Bakeries, VIP Parts and Service, the Wal-Mart Distribution Center, Savage Safe Handling (which handles nearly 4,000 railcars and 12,000 truckloads of industrial raw materials per year), Estes Express, and Fed-Ex.

The new Auburn Industrial Park came to life with its first client, developer Gendron & Gendron, which built a state-of-the-art warehouse for Bisson Transportation and NEPW, (formerly LynxUS). Bisson made a major investment in a 103,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility there. Bisson hopes to eventually expand its facility to a 300,000-square-foot distribution center, serving not only the paper industry, but nonperishable food manufacturers and freight forwarders.

The result of all this diversification helps cushion Lewiston-Auburn against the sharp blows of the current recession.

New companies continue to take advantage of the space at the Bates Mill Complex. Local entrepreneur, Luke Livingston, has opened Baxter Brewing Company to great acclaim. In fact, demand for the canned beer has been so strong the brewery recently announced plans to double its current production. The additional equipment will allow the brewery to increase monthly production from about 300 barrels, or 4,200 cases a month to nearly 6,000 barrels. The $1.4 million, 5,000-square-foot facility is the state’s newest microbrewery and only craft brewery in New England to can its entire line of beers. Baxter Brewing Company currently produces two styles of ale, Pamola Xtra Pale Ale and Stowaway IPA, with plans for a third.

Making it easier for young professionals to come and go as they please is critical to attracting them. That’s the reason residents are delighted that the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport is working with some small, independent airlines to re-establish passenger air service, possibly from Auburn to Washington, D.C., for as little as $111.

According to Sixel Consulting Group, the Auburn-Lewiston air passenger market is likely to produce as many as 667 passengers per day each way (though not all would necessarily use the Auburn facility). The airport catchment area is projected to produce about $90 million in annual airline revenue, or $123,300 in revenue per day, with fliers largely destined for East Coast destinations.

The Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport continues to work on plans to expand and renovate its terminal building to accommodate more aircraft, along with room for security screening for future passenger air service. The proposed plan calls for doubling the size of the facility to 7,000 square feet.

Another high-profile project that illuminates how L-A is playing to its new strengths – and is attracting international attention in the process – is Lufthansa Technik’s historic Lockheed Constellation restoration project. Lufthansa’s nonprofit foundation purchased three rare Lockheed L-1649A “Super Star” aircrafts in a private sale in Auburn and is overseeing restoration of one aircraft that will be fully operational and built just as it would have come off the assembly line in the 1950s.

In the late 1950s, the Lockheed Constellation series pioneered long-range air travel with an unprecedented capability of flying more than 6,100 nautical miles. Lufthansa, one of the most revered and efficiently managed international companies in the world, has hired two dozen local technicians whom they have specially trained to work on this exciting project. The work is being completed in a 30,000-square-foot hanger at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport.

This year also saw the introduction of the first ever “Launch L-A!” contest. Drawing media interest and applications from around the country, the contest was geared towards native Lewiston-Auburn residents under the age of 30 and living outside of the Twin Cities, but willing to relocate back to Lewiston-Auburn and open up their new business. With nearly $100,000 worth of in-kind donations including cash, advertising and legal services, nearly 2,000 votes were cast and the final vote was decided by less than one half of one percent.

Announced in March, the contest winner, Chelsea Fournier, has already signed a rental agreement at 600 Turner Street Plaza in Auburn, between Planet Fitness and the Social Security office. Originally from Lewiston, Fournier plans to open the doors to her business – currently named Lifestyles Massage Incorporated – in the fall of this year. Fournier will partner with her sister, Kim Jacques, an experienced massage therapist, to run the daily operation of the new business.

Restaurants continue to open their doors in the Twin Cities. Most recently, Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar announced that they too will be locating in the 600 Turner Street Plaza in Auburn. Expected to open in July, Buffalo Wild Wings will lease 6,000 square feet of space in the plaza and provide an estimated 80 additional jobs. They specialize in beer, burgers, chicken wings and other pub food.

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