LEWISTON – Gov. John Baldacci was on hand to deliver more than just congratulations at Oxford Networks’ official ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.

The governor took the opportunity to announce a $200,000 grant to help build a parking garage in the city’s revitalized downtown gateway area.

“Things are happening here in an exciting way,” he said. “(Lewiston-Auburn) is leading the state in terms of economic development.”

The money came as welcome news to city officials, who are grappling with a $1 million shortfall in funding for the garage project. Escalating costs of steel pushed the bids higher than expected.

The garage is another key element in the $20 million project to revamp lower Lisbon Street. For the past year, building and development have transformed what was an eyesore into an inviting entrance to the city.

A new campus for Andover College and a new VIP Auto Center are already up and running, while Northeast Bank broke ground for its new headquarters last week. Still to come are the parking garage, a Community Concepts office building and a $2 million renovation of The Public Theatre.

Oxford Networks got the ball rolling when, more than a year ago, it announced plans to build a new $1.8 million corporate office and switching station to anchor the gateway. Yesterday, local and state officials, as well as business leaders, gathered for the ceremony to applaud CEO Rick Anstey for his innovation and vision.

“I’d say we hit the trifecta,” said Jim Bennett, city administrator. “We get a great company with a great corporate attitude and people willing to put their money where their mouth is.”

He also cited the backing of developer Stanley Sclar as well as the efforts of city and state development officials for the project, and singled out former Mayor Larry Raymond for his pioneering work.

“That kind of elected leadership makes a difference,” he said.

Anstey thanked many of the same people, but also gave a nod to his employees, whose willingness to take on the challenge of the growing company helped it to succeed.

“Innovation is the lifeblood of any organization,” said Anstey. “Companies innovate or fall behind.”

After the ribbon-cutting, employees led tours of the new building, which will serve as the flagship office housing administrative, customer service and network operations staff.

In addition to the new office space, the telecommunications company is building a fiber-optic network to serve the Twin Cities area.

A five-year plan is in the second stage of development.

Oxford Networks already offers cable TV service to the cities, where it competes with Adelphia.

Pat Finnigan, Auburn city manager, said the competition makes L-A one of the few communities in the country where residents have a choice in cable service. Combined with Oxford Networks’ other services, such as high-speed Internet access, the technology can be a powerful incentive for economic development.

“We use that to market our community every day,” she said.