Maine workers kept their promise. It’s time for the project owners to keep theirs.

More than 18 months after construction on the Maine International Cold Storage Facility in Portland was completed, several Maine contractors are still waiting to be paid millions of dollars for work they performed.

These are not large multinational corporations. They are Maine-owned businesses that employ Maine workers, source materials from Maine suppliers, and delivered a major public-private infrastructure project on time and on budget celebrated as an investment in Maine’s economy and working waterfront.

The contractors did their job. They paid their employees. They paid their vendors. They paid their taxes. They fulfilled their obligations.

Yet they remain unpaid and caught in a dispute between private entities while carrying the financial burden of a project that is already open and operating.

No Maine worker should have to wait 530 days for a paycheck.

No Maine business should be forced to finance a completed project because project owners failed to meet their obligations.

The State of Maine entered into a 50-year lease for this facility on public land. If the parties to that agreement fail to meet their contractual obligations, state leaders must take action to protect Maine businesses and taxpayers.
We, the undersigned, call on our elected leaders to:

1. Demand immediate payment of all outstanding amounts owed to Maine contractors and suppliers.

2. Conduct a full review of the lease and operating agreements associated with the Maine International Cold Storage Facility.

3. Ensure stronger safeguards are put in place so no Maine business faces a similar situation in future public-private projects.

Maine companies built this facility.
Maine workers earned their pay.
It’s time to pay Maine contractors.