The Finance Authority of Maine said Tuesday that it has approved up to $135 million in bond financing for a nonprofit developer to acquire and rehabilitate a former ski resort in Piscataquis County’s Big Moose Township.

FAME, a quasi-independent state agency, said it determined that the project would make a significant contribution to the economic growth of the state by investing millions of dollars in construction of the facility and significantly increasing employment in the region. The project is near Greenville on the site of a former ski resort whose name contained a slur for Native American women.

FAME said the project’s developer, Louisiana-based nonprofit Provident Resources Group Inc., will make a wide variety of improvements to the site, including a “chairlift, surface lifts, base lodge and conference center with a connecting restaurant/pub, snowmaking system, Zip Tour system, hotel and restaurant, marina, trail system improvements, observatory, event center, ski area grooming equipment and maintenance garage.” The project is expected to create roughly 380 full- and part-time jobs in Piscataquis County, FAME said.

“We are pleased to provide support for Provident’s project in Piscataquis County,” said David Daigler, chair of the FAME board of directors, in a statement. “Plans for the rebirth of the now-dormant ski resort into a four-season recreation destination is promising news for the Greenville area, and we wish the developers the best of luck as they proceed with construction.”

Provident’s website states that since it was founded in 2000, the nonprofit has become “a standard-bearer for a new archetype in organizational design – one that seeks to serve its charitable missions while achieving sound financial results.” Provident said it has more than $4.5 billion in capital under management.

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