Rural Council: What’s One Maine?

The One Maine strategy is about raising the state’s economic tide to lift all boats. It is about building vibrant, high-capacity communities that are sustainable. It is also about the protection of our environment and stewardship of our natural resources. To achieve this end, the Maine Rural Development Council has formulated a comprehensive series of interconnected goals. There is no one single pathway to One Maine, and it says many are necessary.

Goal No. 1: Build a new economic base on Maine’s valued competitive advantages: its still viable forest resource base, the Gulf of Maine, a spectacular natural landscape and a quality of life.

Goal No. 2: Develop regional strategies to provide for the diverse conditions and needs in rural Maine that are caused by distance, remoteness and low population density.

Goal No. 3: Target existing agency and program capacity and resources strategically in the distressed regions of the state. Make outcome-based investments of these resources and call for measurable results from these efforts.

Goal No. 4: Practice the principle of innovation. Be creative in how we assess and respond to rural issues and needs. Creativity and imagination must be evident in all aspects of our development effort.

Goal No. 5: Maximize the use of technology to add value to our natural resources. Also, target growth industries of the emergent service — and knowledge-based economy.

Goal No. 6: Build and sustain community capacity on the local level. In order for rural communities in Maine to continue to thrive as places to live and to work, strong local leadership and civic infrastructure are necessary.

Goal No. 7: Make public and private sector partnerships the underpinning of all rural development efforts. Such partnership is critical. Neither public nor private sector can succeed alone.

Goal No. 8: Integrate rural development efforts. Rural problems and issues cannot be compartmentalized. Comprehensive approaches are necessary. On the local community level, therefore, we must address issues of civic capacity building, economic development and natural resources stewardship.

— From “Building One Maine — A Rural Development Strategy Working Paper,” prepared by Maine Rural Development Council for Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (October 1998).