SKOWHEGAN — Maine Grains has secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants this year to support its purchase of a new equipment line that the company says will build its production capacity and reuse byproducts.

The grain manufacturer, which operates its grist mill at the former county jail on Court Street, has received funding from three grants this year that total $700,000, the company said in a news release Monday.

All three sources of funding are expected to be used toward the purchase of a German-made “specialized cereal extrusion equipment line,” which will be housed in an 80,000-square-foot building planned on the lot adjacent to the former jail.

“We are honored to play a role in restoring manufacturing infrastructure to central Maine that allows us to not only support local farmers growing wheat, oats, rye and other crops, but also helps build a resilient local food supply and good jobs,” founder and CEO Amber Lambke said in a statement.

Lambke, also an elected member of the Skowhegan select board, continued: “This innovative extrusion equipment will be unique and adds capacity to the East Coast which is currently missing. Maine Grains will explore partnerships with other Maine companies that could benefit from co-manufacturing on the machinery as well.”

In the news release, Maine Grains said the new equipment will allow it to produce “healthy, ready-to-eat, grain-based foods with ingredients that are locally sourced.”

It will also “upcycle” local milling, cheesemaking, seaweed, blueberry and soy byproducts into “high fiber, high protein, high value packaged goods for sale to schools and institutions,” the company said.

Dry Goods Shop store manager Olivia Atherton eyes shelves Tuesday while working at Maine Grains in Skowhegan. A new larger shop is part of a two-story facility planned to be built adjacent to their current property at 42 Court St. The new building will also house an indoor farmers market and a startup kitchen space. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

When complete, the new production lines and sales are expected to add 15 jobs, Lambke said. Maine Grains currently employs 20, she said.

The grants Maine Grains has secured are intended to support the local food system and economic development.

In December, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry awarded Maine Grains $250,000 through its Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program.

That program is aimed to build resilience in the middle of Maine’s food supply chain, which in turn is intended to increase local food consumption.

Maine Grains was also awarded $200,000 from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan as part of $7 million in awards to companies statewide, Gov. Janet Mills announced in November.

The funds came from the third and final phase of the Pandemic Recovery for an Innovative Maine Economy (PRIME) Fund, a $39.6 million Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan initiative administered by the Maine Technology Institute, aimed at helping Maine technology companies recover from the pandemic and catalyze long-term economic growth, according to the governor’s office.

Chad Curtis secures the top of a bag containing 2,500 pounds of Organic Whole Wheat while working Tuesday in the mill at Maine Grains in Skowhegan. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

And in October, Maine Grains got another boost from a $200,000 New England Food Vision Prize from the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, awarded to the Skowhegan Economic Development Corp., a quasi-municipal agency.

SEDC intends to use the grant to partner with Maine Grains, the University of Maine System and Sodexo’s Maine Course to provide packaged, grain-based foods to schools. The New England Food Vision prizes support projects that build resilience, relationships and capacity within the regional food supply chain and thus lead to more use of local and regional food at schools and higher education institutions.

Founded in 2012, Maine Grains says it is trying to expand its production capacity to meet a growing demand for local grain products for both commercial and retail customers. The company mills locally grown, organic and heritage grains.

In 2020, Lambke, through the company Land & Furrow LLC, purchased the lot on Court Street where the new building is planned. Plans for the site, formerly the Kennebec Valley Inn that was demolished in 2018, also include a 13,000-square-foot farmers market pavilion.

An artist’s drawing of an 80,000-square-foot building planned to be built adjacent to Maine Grains on Court Street in Skowhegan. The company has secured grants this year to support its purchase of new equipment that the company says will build its production capacity and reuse byproducts. Courtesy of Maine Grains

The project is targeted for completion in 2025 or 2026, according to the Maine Grains’ news release. Sheridan Construction Corp. is the contractor.

Since its founding, the company says it has milled more than 12 million pounds of grain in its 14,000-square-foot production facility inside the former jail. The facility includes three Austrian stone mills.

Along with the grist mill, the former jail building also houses a restaurant, a creamery, a knitting shop and a community radio station.