Business View Civil and Municipal | March 2021

153 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MARCH 2021 microbiology, is headquartered in one of our industrial parks and is producing much of the COVID-19 testing for the entire state. They are joined by Artel Inc., and Abbott Labs – a medical devices and healthcare company that recently expanded to the city – and they are developing and manufacturing COVID-19 tests.” According to Daniel Stevenson, Economic Development Director for the City, “We’re really growing our life sciences & biotech cluster. Clear H20, also located in the park uses a gel technology to prioritize animal health & welfare, improve medical research, and optimize animal agriculture. We have a really good mix of manufacturing and professional service industries in the rest of our commercial and industrial parks.” Bryant reports, “There is some available capacity in reuse of existing commercial and industrial structures. Initially, we had a lot of transportation-based, warehousing and transit hubs for moving goods and products that are now being converted to life sciences & biotech businesses.” Westbrook also has new development projects that are creating mixed- use opportunities for commercial and light industry. Westbrook has a population of approximately 20,000 and is prepared for residential and commercial growth in the near future. To accommodate the influx of new residents and businesses, the city has many residential and mixed-use development projects in the pipeline. Including Rock Row, the largest mixed- use project in Maine. Both public and private sector investment will exceed $500 million in redeveloping a former old rock quarry site at the gateway to the city. At full absorption, the project will consist of two million square feet of mixed-used space that includes retail, dining, office, hotels, a convention center and other tourist related amenities, a medical campus, and innovation district. “We’re experiencing growth opportunities in new industries, requiring specialized education that result in WESTBROOK , MA INE