Governor Paul LePage's (R) job creation efforts took a hit today, when aircraft manufacturer Kestrel announced it would base its operations in Wisconsin, not Maine. In a news release, LePage's Republican counterpart, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, said Kestrel will open its new headquarters and manufacturing plant in the northern city of Superior. The new facilities are expected to create some 600 manufacturing jobs.

Finding tenants who want to build businesses at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station is a top priority for Governor Paul LePage and state and midcoast economic development officials. So losing a company like Kestrel, which had originally intended to open it's new manufacturing plant in Maine, is a tough blow. Peter Rogers, the Governor's Communications Director, said the governor got the bad news on his way back from a Martin Luther Day event in Waterville.

"You know, certainly it was very disappointing. The administration economic development team has been working with Kestrel for a number of months," said LePage.

Back in 2010, the aircraft maker said it wanted to open a plant to build single-engine, turbo-prop planes in Maine and began leasing space at Brunswick Landing. At first, Kestrel thought it would be able to get $39 million in federal tax credits to help get the $100-million-project off the ground. But the aircraft maker ended up getting just a fifth of that, with no guarantee that the rest would follow. So late last year, with no additional state tax credits from Maine on offer, Alan Klapmeier, Kestrel's CEO, began looking at offers from other states.

"We were, as recently as Friday, on the phone with people in Maine and some other groups we've been working on, still trying to figure out if we could make a package work," Klapmeier said.

Late Friday, the Governor announced it was still working to keep Kestrel on the hook. The Administration announced it was prepared to offer millions of additional dollars in gap financing to make a deal work, but wanted to see the Kestrel's financials before signing off on any agreement. George Gervais, the state Commissioner for Economic and Community Development, disputes the notion that Maine didn't offer enough tax incentives to fill the gap.

"Maine as far as the state government agencies has been there all along. We came back to the table and continued down the path of helping them try to fill that gap," said Gervais.

Despite it's move to Wisconsin, Kestrel will keep a presence in Maine. The company has an agreement with the organization re-developing the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, requiring it to continue operations here. Kestrel says it could employ up to a hundred people in Maine down the road.