BANGOR, Maine - The University of Maine is receiving more than $1 million in federal money for projects focused on improving the rural economy in the state.
The money is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The largest of the three projects is a nearly $500,000 grant to investigate what beekeepers and maple syrup producers need to scale up.
Another grant of more than $450,000 is called "Youth Aspirations and Labor Market in Rural Communities.'' It's a project to get a better understanding on how young people in rural areas make the decision about whether to stay.
The final grant is a more than $75,000 award to fund a project that will look at how data can be used to improve rural economic development opportunities.