Both projects, which have taken a substantial volunteer effort to accomplish, will promote the use of the Moosehead Lake region's natural resources and help the region's economic viability.

Greenville residents are "infused with the get-it-done spirit," Karin Tilberg, Department of Conservation deputy commissioner, said Thursday. Tilberg stood in at both events for Gov. John Baldacci, who was unable to make the flight to Greenville because of the weather conditions.

Baldacci, in a prepared statement read by Tilberg at the trail dedication, wrote that interpretive trails such as Greenville's are important pieces of local heritage.

"An understanding of the history and natural history of the places we call home is vital if we are to forge a future that honors traditions, secures economic independence and offers cultural and recreational opportunities for all," he wrote.

The two loop trails on the property, one completed and one in the works, represent the beginning of other trails and activities that will take place on the NREC property, Gary Morse of NREC said. The dedication of NREC volunteers who have laid out the trails, delivered monthly natural resources educational programs, and worked to raise funds for the construction of a future educational center has been remarkable, he said.

NREC officials are still working to secure funds to construct an educational center on the site.

At the site of the future 10,000-square-foot, steel-framed wood composites business incubator, Town Manager John Simko said the incubator will provide start-up businesses with a "good foothold before they step out" on their own.

These businesses will be provided with technical help and space in the hope they will be successful, outgrow the incubator and expand in the area to provide more jobs. A second phase to expand the building to an 18,000-square-foot facility is planned once the funds have been secured.

Habib Dagher, a University of Maine professor of civil-structural engineering and the director of the Advanced Engineered Woods Composite Center, said there are three legs for such incubators: technology, research and development, which the University of Maine provides; the proper entrepreneurs; and financing and economic incentives.

The town will own the incubator and will lease it to the Composites Technology Centers Corp., which will administer the Advanced Technology Development Center Program. The corporation now operates a similar facility in Sanford, and the Greenville Business Incubator will be a satellite of the Sanford facility, as will the University of Maine's Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center.

A welcome reception was held at the steamship Katahdin after the two events.
"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Friday, June 25, 2004 edition of the Bangor Daily NEWS and is used here with permission."