Sun also rises as Washington County looks to future

I may be in the minority, but I don’t share the desperate view of Washington County’s economic future that I have read and heard so much about. I admit we have many challenges, and recovering from generations of economic doldrums is no small task. But the year is coming to a close and it’s time to take stock, so now may be a good time to balance the bad news with the good. Here are some things Washington County can feel good about.

. New jobs. Over the past few years, a number of new businesses have opened. Three companies alone accounted for about 200 new jobs. These aren’t minimum wage jobs, but quality jobs with good pay and benefits.

. New tourism infrastructure. I don’t know if the governor’s idea for a resort will happen, but there is something happening right now that will bring tourists to Washington County and help local businesses take advantage of that market. The Downeast Heritage Center will be a world class facility located in Calais, Maine’s easternmost Canadian gateway. The idea came from local people, planning was supported by local dollars and when it was time to raise the money to build it, Washington County’s legislative delegation came together brilliantly to raise $1 million from the Legislature. Our congressional delegation has done the same to get federal support. We’re breaking ground in the spring of 2002, to be ready to open in 2004. When was the last time a $6 million facility was built in Washington County, especially one that has the potential to benefit the entire county? So why is everyone yawning?

. People cooperating to make things happen. There is a vast network of volunteer committees spanning the county that are working on development projects. They are focused on education, base reuse, job creation, helping local businesses and planning for the future. All of them involve more than one community. There are times when the interests of neighboring towns conflict, but when there are opportunities to succeed by working together, Washington County towns are rising to the occasion. The Washington County Leadership Institute is another local program that has helped almost 100 people around the county understand our region and gain the skills to make a difference.

All of these encouraging things have happened because of the efforts of the Sunrise County Economic Council (SCEC). None of those three businesses is there solely because of SCEC, but if not for our work, those opportunities would have been missed. We didn’t do anything newsworthy or spectacular, we were just there to help, to find solutions. The Downeast Heritage Center has been organized and championed by SCEC from the beginning and working with many partners, making what many considered an impossible goal about four months from being a reality. And the assistance and encouragement provided to local groups and individuals working on their own projects has helped focus great intentions and energy that sometimes get frustrated and wasted. These groups will be having successes soon as well.

Even though we are making important gains, it hasn’t been enough to offset other losses beyond our control: the lobster and aquaculture industries are suffering, which is rippling through our economy. Processing plants in one of our poorest communities have closed. We’re losing two Navy Bases. The boat is leaking so fast we just can’t bail hard enough. Obviously, SCEC’s good efforts have not succeeded in transforming Washington County’s economy. Why is that? Well, first of all, we have two full time employees and one part time. That’s it. This is too big a job to take on with such a small organization. Sunrise County Economic Council could easily employ 10 people working full time to tackle all the issues we see out there. That would take more resources than we can conjure up.

Speaking of resources, how does a poor area like Washington County support an economic development effort? Sunrise County Economic Council is a private, non-profit and we have managed by raising project grants over the years, but we can’t rely on grants forever. For example, the State of Maine has been generous with us in past years, but right now we have no funding from them. That’s zero dollars being spent by the state on the most effective economic development effort in Washington County.

To help secure and strengthen SCEC financially, the board of this non-profit organization decided to establish an endowment. They want to raise $1.1 million, which will provide a permanent source of modest funding, to make sure we’re still here to answer the phone and help make things happen. We raised more than $300,000 inside Washington County. Raising the rest has been a challenge. Economic development and endowments are both concepts too intangible for most philanthropists to get excited about. And let’s face it, it’s hard to believe that local people might actually hold the solutions to their own dilemmas, harder still to invest money in that idea.

Often, we mere mortals can only see evidence that supports what we already believe. If you see Washington County as a depressed, hopeless place full of desperate people, everything you see will support that notion. But I see a place with great promise and opportunity, lacking only the financial resources to realize its potential, and I see plenty of reasons to believe in Washington County.

Dianne Tilton is executive director of the Sunrise County Economic Council.