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Notes from APP and NMDC
Volume 2, Issue 65
Sept. 20, 2013
In This Issue
Energy Expo
CEDS Guidance
Coming Home
APP and NMDC staff take part in SADC Alternative Energy Expo
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   NMDC's Judy Dinsmore has a conversation with one of the 325 attendees at the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation Alternative Energy Expo in Houlton. In addition to information on the biomass industry in northern Maine, the APP/NMDC booth also featured a return on investment calculator for people considering a switch to an alternative energy solution.

   HOULTON - Staff from the Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP) and Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) took part in the first ever Southern Aroostook Development Corporation Alternative Energy Expo held at the John A. Millar Civic Center in Houlton Sept. 14.

   More than 325 people attended to learn more about biomass, pellet stoves and boilers, heat pumps, geothermal systems and more.

   The Mobilize Northern Maine asset based planning initiative, implemented by NMDC and APP, identified renewable energy as an industry sector to grow the economy of northern Maine.

   "Biomass heating it is really important for Aroostook County," said APP President Robert Dorsey. "We have the forest products, the pellet production, the installers, delivery and maintenance, so from an economic point of view it is huge."

   Dorsey added, from an APP perspective many different forms of alternative energy make sense for the region.

   "From a business retention perspective, anytime we can help a business or resident save money, help the local economy and keep the jobs that are in place now safe, it is all good," he said.


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NMDC Executive Director to advise during the CEDS process
 

   The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is drafting new guidance for the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), the key economic development planning document for regional planning organizations, and the executive director of Northern Maine Development Commission will play a role in the process.

   During the 2013-14 National Association of Development Organizations board of directors Meeting in August, the board approved the appointment of Bob Clark to the CEDS Steering Committee, which will offer suggestions to EDA on the draft guidance.

Bob Clark
Bob Clark

   The guidance focuses on the content of CEDS and suggests tools, resources, and examples to guide the development of the required elements that must be included in a CEDS document: Summary Background; Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis; Strategic Direction/Action Plan; and Evaluation Framework.

   "I think my appointment is a result of the work we have been doing statewide through Mobilize Maine, changing the CEDS process to be more of a strategic planning document for the region and together for the state," said Clark.

   Mobilize Maine is an action-oriented initiative that invites strong private sector participation, uses innovative, technology driven tools and processes and focuses on capitalizing on a region's assets to deliver measurable results.

   He added Mobilize Maine has transformed the CEDS to be more of a dynamic planning tool rather than the standard SWOT analysis and list of projects.

   "EDA is now reviewing the CEDS and the NADO committee will offer suggestions to make it a more effective planning tool, not only for the individual regions but for the state as a whole," Clark said. "We have now developed a CEDS template that is used by all 7 Economic Development Districts in the state and Maine has been a leader in this transformation. From my perspective, we are now more connected with what other regions are doing in the CEDS strategic planning so it will truly become a statewide strategy, surviving changes in state administration and empowering businesses and people at the local level to chart their future economic growth."

   Clark is one of only two from New England appointed to the CEDS steering committee.

   "We [NMDC on behalf of the 7 EDDs] have received $575,000 from EDA for developing the Mobilize Maine strategic planning program and have requested another $575,000 to implement these changes," he said. "EDA is very interested and impressed with what is going on in Maine as it relates to the CEDS, hence their investment in Maine as a leader in the process."

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