CALAIS – Gov. John Baldacci, who has not made an appearance at the Washington County Business Conference and Marketplace in its three previous years, is changing that record – now that the event has been recast as one of the Governor’s Regional Conferences on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

The fourth two-day event runs Friday and Saturday at the Washington County Community College. Baldacci will provide a keynote talk at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 22.

With its mix of professional presentations, topics of interest to Washington County’s small businesses and a gymnasium-floor showcase of local products and services, the conference caught the eye of the governor’s staff last spring.

Since May, a statewide planning team – including Louis Bassano of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension office in Machias – has been working to duplicate the event at other community colleges, York County included.

A visitor from the York County organizing group is among the 600-plus people expected to walk through the door – for free.

That’s one of the key points of the successful conferences. There is no charge, not even a registration fee, to hear firsthand from reputable, experienced panelists and speakers.

“The networking value of this conference cannot be underestimated at all,” said Louise West, executive director of the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, one of the conference’s partners in planning.

Topics that highlight some of Washington County’s current trends – downtown revitalization and experiential tourism – are among the featured presentations.

No other dates for other Governor’s Regional Conferences have been pinpointed yet, but that will follow, after this one sets the example for 2006.

“We have had a very successful three years,” Bassano, one of the lead organizers, said. “The community college, business owners, agencies and sponsors have all come together to support an activity with measurable success in Washington County.

“It’s a public-private partnership that has worked out very well. It shows what can be done when a dedicated group pulls together to benefit the area.”

Last year, the conference organizers were named “Maine’s 2005 Home-Based Business Champion” by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which recognized the success of various entrepreneurial efforts in various categories.

Charles Summers, the New England regional administrator for the SBA, announced at the time: “This team has had an impact on small business in Washington County. They have developed a model which I hope will be replicated throughout Maine.”

That’s how the governor’s office got involved.

More than 40 sponsors from the area have given either money or time to have a hand in the event’s organization. The Machias Savings Bank, the statewide CareerCenter and the city of Calais are its primary sponsors.

Additional information on the conference may be found on the Web site, www.wcbcm.org, or by calling Louis Bassano, 255-3345.