CARIBOU - Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have introduced legislation to enlarge the Aroostook County Empowerment Zone to include all of Aroostook County.

The present zone includes 23 of the county's 71 communities. The new legislation would triple the size of the Empowerment Zone, giving businesses and governments throughout northern Maine equal opportunities for assistance.

Businesses in Empowerment Zones can get $3,000 per employee tax credit for up to 10 years, accelerated depreciation on machinery and equipment and tax-exempt bonds for needed capital.

For communities, it removes the criteria of having to meet low-to-moderate income guidelines when applying for grants like the Community Development Block Grants.

Robert Clark, executive director of the northern Maine Development Commission, said the zones are an effort to aid distressed areas and provide opportunities for growth.

Aroostook County is one of only 10 Empowerment Zones in the U.S. and only one of two that was enabled because of population problems. Aroostook County received its designation in January 2002.

Since 2003, the NMDC and Maine's congressional delegation have been trying to enlarge the zone to include all of the county.

An effort last year failed. This year's effort is tied to different legislation.

"Empowerment Zones are critical to help ensure future economic prosperity in rural Maine and other struggling communities," Snowe and Collins wrote in a joint statement. "The current restriction that the Aroostook County Empowerment Zone is limited to 1,000 square miles prevents all of Aroostook's small communities from benefiting."

Snowe and Collins said the change would guarantee that parts of the county would not be left behind as economic prosperity returns to the area.

Some of Aroostook County's larger communities, such as Caribou, Presque Isle and Houlton, are divided, with some areas in the zone and other areas outside the zone.

Clark agreed that the new designation would be a "big thing" for Aroostook County.

"We've been working on this for three years," Clark said. "Entire cities and towns should be involved instead of it being certain businesses and not others."

Aroostook County is largely dependent on agriculture and forestry for its industrial base.

The area also has an aging population. Its population decreased drastically in the early 1990s when Loring Air Force Base closed.

It was those losses that spearheaded Aroostook County's entrance into the federal program.

The strategies, initiatives and projects of the Empowerment Zone are spearheaded by the Aroostook Partnership for Progress.

Since its formation, the APP has dedicated its time and resources to create a projected 1,500 new jobs in the county and collaborated with other efforts to ensure continuing growth.