Abol LLC and Dove Tail Bat grants approved
By Mike Lange
Staff Writer
AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) announced last week that 13 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) applications have been approved including Dove Tail Bat Company in Shirley and Abol LLC, a campground near Ripogenus Dam.
The latest round includes funding from the Economic Development and Micro-Enterprise Assistance grant programs.
The local applications were submitted by the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council through the town of Shirley and Piscataquis County.
David and Luisa Surprenant, owners of Rip Dam Sporting Camps and Abol Bridge Campground, will receive $120,000 for equipment, furnishings and working capital which will be matched by $120,000 from the business.
During a public hearing on the grant application, the Surprenants explained that they have a working relationship with Northern Outdoors which specializes in whitewater rafting trips. Some old buildings at Rip Dam Sporting Camps have already been demolished in anticipation of putting up new ones, and they plan to add more cabins at Abol Bridge Campground to accommodate rafters and anglers. The Surprenants have also owned the Chesuncook House since 1999.
Dove Tail Bat Company is owned by Paul Lancisi, who also operates Designed Living Kitchen Showroom with his wife, Theresa. The bats are shipped to professional baseball leagues all over the world and Lancisi said his goal is to buy wood from local loggers so he can “manufacture 100 percent of our product right here.”
Dove Tail Bats are also used by more than 25 Major League Baseball players including Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig, Chicago White Sox infielder Tyler Saladino and Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosner.
Lancisi will also be investing at least $75,000 of his own money into the venture, adding a 36- by 80-foot building to the complex for new machinery.
Christopher Winstead, the executive director of PCEDC, said that the CDBG program “was designed to help communities fight blight, benefit low and moderate-income persons or address community development needs. I’m very pleased to see that these applications were successful.”
Winstead also noted that another application, submitted through Piscataquis County, for Maine Highlands Sugar Works in Williamsburg was still pending.
“For all three of these businesses, these CDBG dollars offer the ability to expand their businesses, grow their markets, and — in the case of Abol LLC and Dove Tail Bat — hire additional staff. Each of these companies has made investments in our county and I look forward to working with them through the grant process,” Winstead said.
At least four new jobs are expected to be created by Abol LLC and three at Dovetail Bat Company.