Thanks to a military training program that launched in May, two national aerospace companies could be coming to northern Maine.

used the former Loring Air Force Base’s runways for the first run of its five-year aviation training effort. Word of that event spread in aviation circles, and the businesses reached out to the Loring Commerce Centre.

The Loring Development Authority works to attract business, housing and jobs to Loring’s 3,800 acres. Occupants have included Brunswick-based Green 4 Maine and, most recently, the Taste of Maine Potato Chip Co. The two aviation companies, whose names the authority is not yet releasing, would boost the authority’s plan to bring more aerospace jobs onto the former base. They would also ensure a future for its airport infrastructure, including its famed arch hangar.