LINCOLN – After operating without an office for nine months, the Lincoln Lakes Region Development Corp. will open its new office with a new director next week.

The new office of the 5-year-old nonprofit development corporation, which represents 17 towns in Greater Lincoln, is located at 7 Lake St., in the former Keys ‘N Things building. A devastating fire on Jan. 20 destroyed the group’s office located in the Lake Mall on Main Street.

Joanne Gilpatrick, president of the LLRDC, said the new office would open Monday with the group’s new director, William A. Osborne.

“I am extraordinarily happy,” said Gilpatrick. “We have worked so hard to get someone in this position. We have been doing it all with volunteers.”

Gilpatrick said Osborne has a good business background and has excellent contacts.

Osborne, 53, of Old Town, will be assisting the more than 300 businesses in the 17-town area the corporation serves. He has 26 years of experience working in the forest products and pulp and paper industry. He has owned a general store, served as the administrative assistant to the president and chief financial officer of W.T. Gardner & Sons Inc. of Lincoln from 1990 to 2000 and has held supervisory positions at Eastern Paper’s Lincoln mill. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Husson College in business administrationand management.

Osborne said he plans to visit all 17 of the corporation’s communities and then plans to visit all of the business owners in the region.

“I’m here to facilitate expansion and growth in the local economy,” he said.

Osborne said he would work to help existing business grow and help direct businesses to the resources they need. He will assist businesses with issues such as inventory control, cash flow, financing and marketing assistance.

The new regional development director will share his office with Darren S. Winham, a business development specialist with the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development and the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

“We are going to focus on helping our regional businesses,” said Gilpatrick. “If we can help them grow and expand, I think we will do more for our local economy than we could ever do by spending two years trying to entice a big company to come here with 200 jobs. We can diversify and still bring the same amount of jobs if we do our job right.”

Although the group will focus its efforts on helping local businesses, she said it would not turn its nose up at an industry interested in locating in the region.

Gilpatrick said Osborne also would work with officials at Eastern Maine Development Corp. and with Bruce McLean, the director of the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council.

The Lincoln Lakes Region Development Corp.’s telephone number is 794-6250. Its Web site is www.llrdc.org.