Funding forces Kestrel to reconsider jobs
Kestrel Aircraft, one of the new tenants at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, may not create as many jobs as it initially expected. The company is considering moving some of the manufacturing work it planned to do in Brunswick to New Hampshire in order to net more federal funding.
Kestrel President Alan Klapmeier on Wednesday told The Times Record the company might build a manufacturing facility in Berlin, N.H., or another location as a result of a lack of expected federal funding for the Brunswick Landing facility. The company expected to receive $39 million in the New Market Tax Credit program to manufacture a carbon-composite aircraft, but so far has only received $7.8 million and is unsure if it will receive more, the Portland Press Herald reported. Opening in a more rural location like Berlin could better position Kestrel to receive the tax credits, which aim to drive economic development in rural areas. The company signed a 10-year lease at Brunswick Landing and initially said it would hire 300 people, though Klapmeier said the amount could be closer to 600. Should it build another facility elsewhere, some of those jobs would not be created in Maine. The company currently has 25 employees in Brunswick.
However, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner George Gervais told the Press Herald the state has identified a potential source of funding for Kestrel, but would not specify the details.
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