Bucksport committee to meet on economic development plan

BUCKSPORT — A local panel and its new subcommittee hope to have an economic development plan completed within the next four months.

The local economic development committee for two years has discussed various ideas, but now will oversee the creation of a specific strategy by a consulting firm. After reviewing proposals by three applicants, the committee recently hired Eastern Maine Development Corp. of Bangor to prepare a plan.

At a meeting in July, the five-member economic development committee decided it needed advice from people representing various sectors of the local economy, including education, social services, and marina development. In addition to three Bucksport Town Council members, the original economic development panel consists of Chamber of Commerce representative Jack Corrigan, and Bill Grady, Champion mill community relations manager.

Residents named to a new subcommittee known as the economic development planning committee, which will oversee the framing of the plan, include Carolyn Brennan-Alley, Laura Bittinger, Richard Rosen, Marc Curtis, Robert Briggs, Mark Payne and Stanley Moses.

The economic development panel and its new subcommittee will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, at the town office, and residents are invited to attend, said committee chairwoman Lisa Whitney.

Among the issues the economic strategy should address is how to develop projects and areas targeted in the town’s comprehensive plan. The committee hopes to see the downtown area revitalized, and to have a marina and an industrial park developed.

Town Manager Roger Raymond recently stressed that the initiative’s primary purpose is to identify job opportunities for local people, not to provide local jobs to nonresidents.

In a related development, the Town Council has authorized Raymond to apply for a grant to help expand existing businesses and establish new ones. The town is eligible to apply for up to $125,000 from the microloan program of the state Office of Economic and Community Development.

The program funds would make small business loans available at an interest rate to be set by the local panel that would administer the process. Money repaid on the loans would go into a revolving fund toward future loans.