The Honorable Robert Barber, United States Ambassador to Iceland, and His Excellency Geir Haarde, Iceland’s Ambassador to the United States will visit Maine on Tuesday, March 17th. The Ambassadors will be welcomed that morning at a private reception organized by Maine North Atlantic Development Office (MENADO), New England Ocean Cluster House, and partners. During the event, Thor Sigfusson, Ph.D., founder of Iceland’s Ocean Cluster and Patrick Arnold, Maine entrepreneur and President of SoliDG, Inc. will unveil the conceptual design for the New England Ocean Cluster House, which is under negotiation with the City of Portland to be located at the Portland Ocean Terminal building on the Maine State Pier. The Ambassadors will tour the Eimskip facility in Portland and the Peary MacMillan Arctic Museum & Arctic Studies Center at Bowdoin College. A visit to Brunswick Landing to learn about air base redevelopment efforts here similar to efforts in Keflavik is also planned. In Augusta, the Ambassadors and their delegation are scheduled to meet with Governor Paul LePage. During the visit to Eimskip, the group will meet with Brigadier General Campbell of the Maine National Guard to discuss the potential for a State Partnership Program relationship between the Maine National Guard and Iceland’s Coast Guard. “MENADO has been working diligently to increase trade and investment opportunities between Maine and the Nordic region and to help develop Maine’s policies surrounding Arctic affairs,” said Chris Howard, Chair of MENADO’s Board of Directors and a Pierce Atwood attorney. “The New England Ocean Cluster House is one example of the types of opportunities MENADO would like to bring to the state. The ocean cluster model has generated positive results, including economic growth in other countries, and the New England Ocean Cluster will follow suit, empowering people from our region to grow their ideas into profitable businesses that create new jobs and stimulate our economy. It’s great that we have the support of the U.S. and Icelandic Ambassadors in building momentum around and celebrating this positive initiative.” The Maine North Atlantic Development Office (MENADO) was formed in 2013 as a program of Maine International Trade Center and Maine Department of Economic & Community Development to develop increased trade and investment between Maine and the markets of the North Atlantic Region and develop Maine’s policy space in Arctic affairs. The New England Ocean Cluster House is the result of a combined effort between The Icelandic Ocean Cluster, and Soli DG, Inc. of Maine and MENADO in partnership with the City of Portland. The facility will be an innovation incubator for companies focused on opportunities such as food processing, boat building, energy production, fishing, aquaculture, marine-based biotechnology and biomedical products, pharmaceuticals, advanced materials, retail products, health and wellness, marine technology and applied science. The New England Ocean Cluster House will be commercialization-focused, and ocean cluster members will share the goal of utilizing 100 percent of materials harvested from the ocean in their product and technology development, while focusing on higher and higher margins. “With the ocean cluster’s focus on the spirit of entrepreneurism, we are very excited to be a part of the healthy collaboration taking place between Iceland and Maine,” said Patrick Arnold of Soli DG. “Capitalizing on emerging trends and new market opportunities requires a culture of people with a ‘rising tide’ mentality. We have found that in common with our partners.”