Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.
My grandparents on my mother's side were born and raised in Ashland, up in the County. They raised their three children there, and they lived their entire lives in that small town. They were potato farmers during some of the most difficult times of the last century, during the Great Depression, and at a time when government mandated surpluses drove prices down and many potato farms failed.
I spent nearly all my summers and school vacations in Ashland as a youngster, hanging out with my grandparents. On Sundays after church, we would take a drive up to Portage Lake to fish or swim, or drive up the Realty Road to Garfield Plantation, where the older folks would listen to Guy Lombardo on the car radio and look down at the wide, fertile fields below. So, it was a privilege to be in the County recently, and remember my roots, and march in the parade of the Potato Blossom Festival, and to recognize the people who have continued farming potatoes there, who have made it into a $1.3 billion industry in Maine.
I'm so proud of the work we've done these past six-and-a-half years to sustain and strengthen the industry for these families, and for generations to come. In my first year in office, for instance, with the support of the Legislature, we created a major tax credit to encourage Maine-based food processing facilities to expand and to generate economic growth. This year, again with the support of the Legislature, I was proud to sign into law L.D. 1951, which expands those tax credits for the benefit of several businesses in the County, in particular. This more generous tax incentive program will certainly benefit the McCrum processing facility in Washburn, Maine, which currently employs 145 people.
Our first tax incentive program helped the McCrums hire about 90 more employees based in the State of Maine. Our expanded bill will also benefit the Taste of Maine Potato Chip Company, which is building a new factory at the Loring Commerce Centre in Limestone – the largest economic investment at Loring in more than a decade. When that project is completed in 2026, it is expected to create 100 good-paying jobs. I'm proud to support the continued success of the McCrum family, which represents six generations of potato farmers and other companies and families who are truly the cornerstones of the potato industry in Maine.
While in the County, I was also proud to attend a ribbon cutting on the newly renovated Aroostook Farm in Presque Isle, which is run by the University of Maine. With $3 million in federal funds from my Jobs and Recovery Plan, the university has transformed an old storage facility into an advanced research lab with tools like drones that fly over the farm collecting detailed data. Agriculture students now can better determine which potato varieties are the most resistant to weather, and pests, and disease.
Boy, my grandparents would be excited to learn of the progress being made in the County. The tools we have today are building on the legacy and the labor of our past. The legacy of hard working families like the Flewellings, the McCrums, the Smiths, whose innovation and ingenuity built the potato industry from the ground up. By combining the grit of previous generations with tax incentives and research technology, and the dogged persistence and patience of potato farmers in the county, we're going to make sure that that iconic industry and the families who are at its very heart, will endure for years to come.
This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.