By Carol Coultas,Business writer

LEWISTON – For seven-and-a-half years, Greg Mitchell has been the city’s steward of economic prosperity, shepherding more than $300 million in new development through three city administrations and some blistering controversies.

Starting in January, he’ll bring his expertise and enthusiasm to the private sector as a consultant for the law firm Eaton Peabody.

“It was a tough, tough decision,” said Mitchell, who notified his municipal colleagues Monday of his pending departure. “I have been honored to be part of a team here – and not just municipally speaking, but a team that includes many other agencies as well.”

Mitchell, 45, said the time was right to jump ship from the public nonprofit sector, where he’s worked for the last 21 years, to the private.

“I’ve wanted to broaden my experience with the private sector, and broaden my geographic expertise for a while now,” he said. “I’m looking ahead to the next 21 years.”

Mitchell will work for the Bangor-based company doing things like developing real estate deals, hammering out TIF contracts and servicing municipalities.

Mitchell joined the city’s economic development department in 1998, just as controversial projects such as the taxpayer-backed Bates Mill redevelopment project were heating up.

“I think we did 40 presentations in eight weeks,” he said of his baptism by fire, stumping for the referendum that would fund the mill’s rebirth.

But the mill’s redevelopment touched off other downtown investment that Mitchell cites as among his proudest achievements. Aside from the 1,500 jobs now in the Bates Mill, Mitchell helped steer Oxford Networks, Northeast Bank, VIP Auto and Andover College to the southern gateway. He was happy to have a part in it.

“A community is often judged by its urban core, its village area,” he said. “Our successes there will go a long way.”

He’s also proud of the development in south Lewiston – the area of the turnpike earmarked for large-scale retail development that already provides a home to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and the Gendron Business Park. Mitchell rode the hot seat during the negotiations with Wal-Mart in 2001. The company insisted on confidentiality while negotiating $17 million in tax breaks from the city and state for its distribution center, which created 450 jobs and $400,000 in annual property taxes.

The episode was painful for Mitchell, who prefers regular public involvement in development projects.

“That approach is very, very labor intensive, but inviting feedback early on is so important,” he said.

Mitchell is satisfied with the on-going development in south Lewiston, but what really excites him is knowing that the foundation for that growth was laid when he first came on board. He and city planners earmarked that area for development, got the zoning going, then added the infrastructure – power, roads, sewer, drainage – one layer at a time.

“I had the good fortune of being in places where people wanted to change,” said Mitchell of his tenure with Lewiston. “And I’ve been honored by the trust city officials and elected leaders have placed in me.”

City Administrator Jim Bennett said he regrets Mitchell’s departure, citing his hard work developing relationships that served the city well. It was his tenacity that brought local developers such as Stanley Sclar and the Gendron family into Lewiston development projects.

“He’s developed quite a reputation and done fantastic things in the community,” said Bennett.

Stanley Sclar couldn’t agree more. The man behind the Franklin Property Trust – which owns a great deal of downtown real estate and was an integral partner in the southern gateway project – calls Mitchell’s departure a “terrible blow” to the city. In particular, he noted Mitchell’s perseverance, personality and patience as attributes that will ensure his success in the private sector.

“He is one of the most creative visionaries the city’s had in my memory,” said Sclar.

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