Blogs

On Tuesday, November 6th, you will have the opportunity to vote on four bond issues.  Each of these bonds was approved by a two-thirds vote in the Maine House and Senate.  They now require majority support of Maine voters.  

We believe each of these investments is essential to strengthening Maine’s economy while supporting our quality places. 

To see the full ballot:
http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming.html

Less than two weeks `til Summit 2012 - have you registered?  If not, here's the 3rd reason you should join us in Augusta on October 23!

PORTLAND: GrowSmart Maine released Charting Maine’s Future – Making Headway, an update to the 2006 Brookings Report, Charting Maine's Future, at a press conference today at the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine.  Judy East, Executive Director of Washington County Council of Governments and member of the Advisory Team for the report, joined the conference via the University’s polycom system from Calais, “GrowSmart Maine continues to support and reinforce good work across t

Smart Growth America is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for our 2012-2013 round of free technical assistance workshops. Smart Growth America’s free technical assistance program helps to facilitate local solutions to local issues and concerns, so that participating communities are able to grow in ways that benefit families and businesses while protecting the environment and preserving a sense of place.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today invited communities to apply for technical assistance to foster sustainable growth in their area. Communities that adopt sustainable growth strategies have been shown to expand economic opportunity and protect people’s health and the environment. EPA is offering assistance through the Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program, which offers tools that can be applied in rural, suburban, and urban areas, including:

Come join us at the Common Ground Country Fair this Friday, Saturday and Sunday and enjoy all that rural living in Maine has to offer! And now, the 7th reason you should join us in Augusta on October 23!
#7!

MAINE BUSINESS

How do Maine businesses factor into the intersection of economy, environment and community? Summit 2012 asserts that Maine businesses succeed with access to private and public capital and that when we target these investments we establish sustainable prosperity. In the morning breakout session hear from Jim Nimon, Economic Development Director of Sanford; Jeff Hewett, Director of Economic and Community Development at the Town of Skowhegan and D’Arcy Boyington, the Director of Economic Development at City of Brewer and learn how Maine communities are leveraging private-sector investments with public funds in a discussion moderated by moderated by Judy East of Washington County Council of Governments. In an afternoon session, Charlie Spies of CEI Capital Management, LLC; Greg Paxton of Maine Preservation and Josh Benthien of Northland Enterprises, LLC will discuss how everyone wins with the use of private funds to promote public benefits in a session led by John Moore of Bangor Savings Bank.

We've been highlighting the successes of some of the companies who will be represented at the Summit on our Facebook page, check it out! In the meantime, here is the 8th reason you should join us in Augusta on October 23!
#8!

COLLABORATION

Maine succeeds when we make connections across communities. Summit 2012 is about the entire state of Maine - not one region or a handful of communities and these breakout sessions will look at how partnerships can amplify individual impact. In the morning “Communications, Collaboration and Collective Impact” session, attendees will discover how making connections across our workday boundaries increases the impact of all individual efforts. Roger Millar of Smart Growth America will moderate and Jessie Seymour-Perkins of the Bethel Area Nonprofit Collaborative, Susan Corbett of Mighty Women of Washington County and Roxanne Eflin of the Maine Downtown Center, a partner of the Maine Downtown Coalition, will contribute to the discussion. In the afternoon, “National Initiatives with Statewide Impact” reports on Maine’s participation in national efforts to increase the impact of individual work through the Sustainable Solutions Initiative and the HUD Sustainable Communities Initiative. Explore the benefits and implementation of these initiatives under the guidance of Geoff Anderson of Smart Growth America and with the panelist expertise of Linda Silka and Karen Hutchins of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, Carol Morris of Sustain Southern Maine and Ryan Pelletier, Director of Workforce Development for the Northern Maine Development Commission.

Summit 2012 Breakout Sessions allow you to explore in-depth the topics and issues that are important to you. At each session a moderator will introduce the topic at hand with panelists providing a brief overview of their work in the relevant area. Plenty of time will be devoted to Q&A and discussion with the audience.

School's in session and everyone's glad it's Friday again. We know you are anxious to find out the 9th reason you should join us in Augusta on October 23!
#9!

GROWTH AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT
Maine is changing--and Summit 2012 will examine how Maine can prepare in light of recent growth patterns. A breakout session led by Dana Totman of Avesta Housing and with Erin Cooperider of Community Housing of Maine, John Gallagher from Maine Housing (invited) and Senator Chris Rector will explore the tension between the current housing supply and today’s housing demands and will discuss how we can ensure that Maine will have appropriately diverse housing in the future. At a second breakout session entitled “Downtowns are Cool Again” Ed Cervone of the Maine Development Foundation will preside over GrowSmart Maine’s Kim Ballard, who serves as Outreach Director for the Maine Forest Service’s Project Canopy, Community Financial Literacy’s Claude Rwaganje and Jeff McCarthy from Maine Fiber Company as they look at the recent shift toward residential market demand in Maine’s downtowns and assess the degree to which our downtowns are ready to accommodate this demand.

Summit 2012 Breakout Sessions allow you to explore in-depth the topics and issues that are important to you . At each session a moderator will introduce the topic at hand with panelists providing a brief overview of their work in the relevant area. Plenty of time will be devoted to Q&A and discussion with the audience.