LIMESTONE, Maine — After numerous technical delays, construction is underway on a $55 million potato chip plant on the former Loring Air Force Base, with plans to open for production about a year from now.
The Taste of Maine Potato Chip Co. expects to begin producing chips in spring of 2026, then reach full capacity that June, Loring Development Authority president and CEO Jonathan Judkins told board members this week.
Bruce Sargent and Jim Pelkey of Falcon Transportation in Presque Isle first announced plans for the plant in February 2024. The 80,000-square-foot facility could employ up to 100 people and use more than 1,500 acres worth of Aroostook potatoes. After months of delays related to wastewater permits, the project’s start is good news for the authority and others working to draw industry to the former northern Maine base.
“Taste of Maine progress has begun,” Judkins said.
The plant will be located at 250 Northcutt Road, just past the West Gate entrance to the Loring Commerce Center, where the former Damon Elementary School once stood.
Mapleton-based Buck Construction is the project engineer, and a potato chip plant developer from Idaho will lend expertise, Sargent said at a groundbreaking in April 2024.
Limestone granted the company a 30-year tax incentive agreement last May.
Sargent originally planned to start construction in July, but plans were sidelined when he learned the facility would need a digester to treat wastewater so as not to overwhelm the Limestone Water & Sewer District’s system. The permitting process was finally completed this March, Sargent said Thursday.
Ground work started on March 31, according to Buck Construction officials.
In other business, the development authority board discussed progress with Green 4 Maine, a Portland-based developer that in 2023 acquired about 450 of the former base’s 3,800 acres.
The company aimed to develop a major workforce hub and has signed on an artificial intelligence company and a rocket manufacturer, and is working with DG Fuels to bring a $4 billion aviation fuel plant to Loring.
The on-again, off-again news about tariffs the Trump administration plans to impose on various countries has prompted a flurry of calls from Canadian business owners who either want to relocate to the U.S. or expand stateside, Green 4 Maine co-founder Thomas Manning said.
He and co-founder Scott Hinkel did not share specifics on current projects, but said they are actively recruiting businesses and hope over the next two or three months to announce more developments.
“We need evidence of progress. We’ve got a lot riding on our commitment to Green 4 Maine,” board chair Lee Umphrey said. “As these opportunities come up, we’re really interested in the number of jobs these will create.”
Demolition of buildings at the Manser Drive former base housing complex is ongoing, Judkins said.
Last year, the authority condemned six unoccupied buildings that were in severe disrepair, with plans to tear them down and create new housing. The critical need for living quarters will grow if more companies move onto the commerce center.
Though original plans called for tearing down the buildings and burying the foundations, the authority has pivoted to the idea of building new structures on the old foundations, Judkins said.
“With the lack of affordable housing [in the area], it was clear we needed to have another plan,” he said.
Work is also ongoing with the Maine Public Utilities Commission on water and sewer rates, which have been a topic of concern since new, elevated rates were announced in October. Judkins is gathering five years’ worth of billing and cost data for the commission, which most recently announced temporarily reduced rates for water customers on authority property.
In other news, the Loring runway area will get some use this spring and summer with military training exercises and exhibitions. From May 4-6, the New Hampshire Air Guard will conduct the first part of a long-term training exercise. And in June, the Maine Air National Guard will hold a multi-agency tactical alert training that will involve multiple law enforcement groups.
Both events will be open to the public, and more information is forthcoming, Judkins said.
