Southern Maine Community College will unveil plans today for a campus at Brunswick Naval Air Station.

The presentation will be made this morning to the board of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority at the college's Maine Advanced Technology Center, formally the Brunswick Times Record building, 6 Industry Road.

To fuel the economic development of the region, the college will train manufacturing workers in conjunction with private enterprises on the re-developed base. It will also educate nurses and medical technicians using a functioning health clinic already on the base as a training facility.

It is estimated that 7,000 jobs will be lost in the region by 2012 with the closure of Brunswick Naval Air Station.

"The Brunswick community and the redevelopment authority have made us feel very welcome and we look forward to a strong partnership in building this new campus," said James Ortiz, college president. "It is our mission as a college to educate the workforce and contribute to the economic development of the region. We are very enthused about this opportunity."

Developing the SMCC campus on the base will cost an estimated $2.1 million, college officials said. A new campus could exceed $24 million, they said.

The cost of the SMCC campus in Brunswick would be the least expensive of any of the existing campuses of the Maine Community College System since all administrative costs will be shared by the South Portland campus.

"The mid-coast needs a comprehensive college program to meet the demands of the region's businesses. The community college's presence is a fundamental step in helping our area thrive," said John Richardson, a Brunswick resident and state commissioner of economic and community development.

There is no comprehensive public college campus in the Brunswick area, which is currently served by extension programs alone. In addition to health science and advanced manufacturing training, the new campus of SMCC will offer general education programming to serve the needs of local communities.

College officials estimate it will serve at least 1,500 students at BNAS by 2014.