King comes to UMaine to help announce partnership to grow state’s forest economy
WABI (Channel 5) reports U.S. Sen. Angus King will be at the University of Maine Friday to help announce a forest bio-based manufacturing partnership between the university and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. During his visit, King will receive a private briefing on the project and tour the Alfond Advanced Manufacturing Lab for Structural Thermoplastics.
The announcement was made just weeks after the Maine Forest Economy Growth Initiative released its recommendations report on how to strengthen Maine’s forest economy.
“Up until now, people have been in their own kind of channel,” said Stephen Shaler, director of UMaine’s School of Forest Resources, and a member of the Maine Forest Economy Growth Initiative.”‘We look at this, we know this, we know this.’ And we’re really all in this together. So stepping back, getting people together and taking a global perspective on it and a true assessment of where the opportunities are is really key.”
U.S. Senator Angus King and U.S. Senator Susan Collins joined with officials from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Maine to start implementing its recommendations, beginning with the January 27 announcement of a partnership between ORNL and UMaine to advance innovative forest bio-based manufacturing and grow the state’s forest products sector today at the University of Maine at Orono.