Lou Sims, senior investment officer at the Maine Technology Institute, presented details of the Maine Technology Asset Fund on a public Zoom session and walked potential applicants through eligibility, required documents and loan terms. "My name is Lou Sims. I'm a senior investment officer with the Maine Technology Institute, and I'm here today to talk to you about the Maine Technology Asset Fund," he said at the start of the presentation.

The MTAF program uses a $25,000,000 research bond approved by the Maine Legislature in April 2024 and subsequently approved by voters in a November 2024 referendum. Sims said the program will deploy those bond proceeds through competitive awards and that applicants must demonstrate at least a 1:1 match for the MTAF funds. "These these investments have to be awarded through a competitive process," he said, and he noted the application deadline is Nov. 13 at 5 p.m.

Sims emphasized that bond-funded MTAF dollars are restricted to capital expenditures that would be capitalized on business tax filings — for example, equipment, production machinery and facility expansions — while matching funds may be used for other project-related costs such as labor, contractors or consultants. "The the MTAF dollars do have to be spent, on eligible capital expenses," he said. He listed the technology sectors called out by the legislature: life sciences and biomedical; environmental and renewable energy; information technologies; forestry and agriculture technologies; aquaculture and marine technologies; composites and advanced materials; and precision manufacturing.

Award mechanics: for-profit recipients will receive 0% interest loans with a maximum request of $2,500,000. The loans are structured on a patient repayment timeline keyed to the applicant's proposed project schedule; repayment would begin after the project timeline ends. Sims said up to half of the borrowed amount may be forgiven after the first four years of the repayment schedule based on progress toward the project's economic impact projections and job-creation targets. "There is a potential for up to half of the amount borrowed to be forgiven over time if the borrowers demonstrate success in achieving the impact projections," he said.

Nonprofits and research institutions may apply and could be eligible for awards without the same repayment obligations. Sims said matching funds do not need to be fully secured at the time of application, but they must be in place before signing the loan contract; awardees will be given up to six months after selection to demonstrate secured match. "You could certainly be in a position where...you're in the process of raising right now. So that would be allowable," he explained.

Application specifics: applicants should download the application document and acknowledgment form from MTI's MTAF webpage, complete a project-specific application, and gather required documentation before accessing the online portal. Required items Sims listed include the acknowledgment form, a W-9, prior-year financial statements, current year-to-date financials, income-statement projections through 2027, and a current payroll register to serve as the baseline for job-creation tracking and the loan-forgiveness formula. Optional supporting documents such as pitch decks or market research may be attached.

Sims described scoring priorities: credible and viable economic-impact projections; a clear plan for job creation and sustainability; a defined repayment pathway; and a reasonable project timeline that demonstrates committed matching investments. He said MTI expects roughly 200 applications and aims to notify awardees by January following the application deadline. "We are expecting, you know, probably upwards of in the range of 200 or so applications," he said.

Q&A highlights: Sims confirmed the primary expectation is a cash 1:1 match, while additional in-kind match may be included beyond that baseline. For software companies that primarily propose R&D labor rather than hard assets, he said the program is oriented toward hard assets and that labor-based R&D generally will not qualify unless it can appropriately be capitalized on tax filings. He clarified that contractors counted in payroll-related questions are those working more than about 20 hours per week and that payroll registers can be provided as Excel spreadsheets; town and ZIP code are sufficient for residency tracking in payroll data. He also said MTI does not generally plan to require personal guarantees on loans.

Timing and support: Sims urged applicants to compile required documents before starting the online portal (which can take up to 30 minutes to complete) and recommended submitting at least one to two weeks before the Nov. 13 deadline. MTI staff will post frequently asked questions and a recording on the MTAF webpage; applicants with procedural or technical questions may email mtaf@maintechnology.org.

Details extracted from the presentation should be treated as the program design described by MTI at the session; final program terms will be reflected in the MTAF loan contract and award materials developed after award selection.