STONINGTON – There was no silver bullet last week, no magic wand that could spur economic development.

But “Stonington Rocks,” the daylong economic development forum, did help to lay the groundwork that could become the foundation of future efforts in town. The conference brought town business planners and business owners with representatives from state agencies and organizations involved in a variety of economic development areas.

“There are a lot of people who now know that Stonington is serious about economic development,” said Doug Johnson, the chairman of the town’s economic development committee, which organized the event. “If that was the only outcome, then it was well worth it.”

Participants at the forum got a whirlwind introduction to Stonington’s economy with a walking tour of the town and a boat tour that featured a drive-by of the Crotch Island granite operation and stops at the Billings Diesel and Marine boatyard and Sunshine Seafood in Webbs Cove.

“I had no idea there was so much going on here,” one agency representative said.

Maine Transportation Commissioner David Cole, who as head of Eastern Maine Development Corp. worked with the community on a number of projects, said that in today’s world, economic development is often based on the quality of a place, rather than a specific industry. Cole urged leaders to build on the town’s assets as they look to enliven the town’s economy.

“Stonington is a very special place,” Cole said. “You need to look at who you are and what your assets are and where you want to be. Then you need to figure out how to build on that to create an economy that is beneficial for the people and the community.”

Robin Alden, a former state marine resources commissioner and now executive director of the Penobscot East Resource Center, reviewed efforts to strengthen the town’s fishing industry. The local industry, she said, because of depletion and regulation, has been reduced to basically a single-species fishery, with the majority of the town’s fishermen relying on lobsters.

“There are 385 commercial lobster licenses on the island, adult licenses,” she said. “That’s a lot of people who each have an investment of about $250,000. If we lose that employment on that scale, this town will be very different.”

In an effort to diversify the fishery, the town is “acting locally,” working with state agencies to change regulations that have effectively barred small, local fishermen from the groundfish fishery.

Creative economy is all about “people and performance,” said Linda Nelson, executive director of the Stonington Opera House and a member of the governor’s Creative Economy Commission. It relies on individuals using ingenuity and innovation to create new opportunities, she said.

Although many associate creative economy with the arts, Nelson said, the concept can apply to a variety of industries that could be viable in Stonington, including arts and fishing, but also research and development and technology.

“If we do our job, we can create opportunities so they can do what they need to do here,” she said.

Participants also received tips on how to maintain a viable downtown and a sustainable economy during the forum.

The town’s economic development committee will review the discussion from the forum and look at the local issues it faces, Johnson said. At the same time, the local planners will work to maintain the contacts they made during the forum.

“We’ll need to look at all the things that we should do and prioritize them and then start to work on them,” Johnson said. “And we can’t lose touch with these people. There are a lot of people here today and they have a lot of information. We need to keep in touch with them.”