ANNUAL SUMMIT
Thank you for a wonderful 2022 Summit!
View Part I and Part II of the 2022 Summit recordings here (YouTube)
Advocacy is Empowerment!
Agriculture to Urban: Shaping Change in Your Community
Date + Time: Thursday, October 13, 2022, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm (Registration opens 8:30)
City Experience tours to follow and The Return of The Reception!
Location: Anchor venue in Biddeford at the Pepperell Mill Campus at 40 Main Street with a satellite location at Eastern Maine Community College’s Rangeley Hall, 268 Sylvan Road, in Bangor.
Fully virtual attendance available.
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION:
ONLINE: Tuesday, October 11th at 12pm noon. IN-PERSON registration will be available during the Summit.
Smart growth means building communities that are equitable, resilient, and vibrant by accommodating growth in walkable, interesting neighborhoods while protecting agricultural and forest land and open space for wildlife habitat, water quality, outdoor sports, and recreation.
Join us in building Maine’s Policy Action 2023 to address barriers to and create incentives for equitable, sustainable growth and development that strengthens downtowns and villages of all sizes while pulling development pressure away from productive and open natural areas. We will develop policies to strengthen Maine’s cities, downtowns, villages AND protect farmland, forests, working waterfronts, recreational, and conservation spaces. We promote equity for all. We do so acknowledging that our towns thrive when we support diversity – for people and land use and that Maine has urban, rural, and suburban settings for which any solution may/not be a fit.
John Piotti
American Farmland Trust
Mike McGinn
America Walks
Rhiannon Hampson
Maine USDA Rural Development
Our Keynote Speakers: John Piotti, American Farmland Trust and Mike McGinn, America Walks will share from their national perspectives stories of how advocacy is empowerment. As communities navigate change, actively engaging in local, state, and federal policymaking is essential to your community’s success in navigating change.
Our keynote speakers will be joined by Maine’s USDA: Rural Development State Director Rhiannon Hampson, who will bring her own depth of experience as moderator of a conversation between the two speakers and with our audience.
Then we will dive into Maine Policy Action 2023. GrowSmart Maine and Build Maine are convening statewide partners to develop forward-thinking legislative proposals. The current effort builds on work that has been ongoing since 2019, involving the Maine Alliance for Smart Growth and hundreds of people across the state. We want your feedback to strengthen the proposed slate in time for the 2023 legislative session.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUMMIT SPONSORS!
THANK YOU TO OUR IN-KIND SPONSORS
COVID POLICY
GrowSmart is following the current CDC guidelines and masks are optional but welcome. The Biddeford venue features air purifiers and the Bangor venue sanitizes the room before each event. We will also be collecting your information for possible contact tracing.
For up-to-date information about COVID-19 precautions and the current level in either York or Penobscot counties, please visit the CDC website.
If you register to attend any site in person, and then later change your mind and wish to attend virtually, OR we are required to shift the summit to a fully virtual model, we can refund the difference in your ticket price after the summit. Or, you may opt to donate the difference in your ticket price to GrowSmart Maine.
Thank you for joining us virtually if you are exhibiting symptoms.
PARKING IN BIDDEFORD & BANGOR VENUES
For information on where to park in both downtown Biddeford and on Eastern Maine Community College’s campus in Bangor, download a PRINTABLE PDF.
PAST SUMMITS
Visit any of the links below to view our previous summits.