STRONG – A special town meeting Tuesday at the Foster Memorial Building will focus on a proposal encouraging the town to apply for Maine Rural Partners new pilot program, Harness the Wealth.
The program is designed to “Identify, mobilize and sustain strategic community resources for rural revitalization,” according to the Maine Rural Partners Web site, www.mainerural.org.
Mark Hews, the coordinator for the Threshold to Maine RC&D program and Maine Rural Partner board member, will lead the meeting in which he will discuss the new program and how it could work for Strong.
The program is modeled after a rural revitalization initiative undertaken in Nebraska called HomeTown Competitiveness, Hews said in a phone interview.
“We will try to create a program that is adaptable to Maine’s communities and really encourage communities to become aware of their resources that can make them stronger,” Hews said.
The program focuses on community capacity building through strategic planning, community investment programs and leadership development with an emphasis on youth, Hews said.
Promoting young entrepreneurs “creates opportunities from within a community that are much better than trying to attract businesses from the outside,” Hews said.
Pilot programs in Maine will receive a community coach, who will work with local town leaders at implementing strategic planning, investment programs and leadership development, for two years. Community coaches will also create an exchange team to “provide tailored technical assistance” for each town’s unique character, according to the Maine Rural Partners Web site.
Pilot towns are being sought, as the program is in the design stage and needs fine tuning, Hews said. These pilot programs will help clarify and define how Harness the Wealth will take shape in the future, he said. But the lack of a clear-cut plan doesn’t worry Strong Area Business and Civic Alliance President Eileen Miazga, who is excited about the unique opportunity.
“If we start in one direction and it doesn’t work, we can change that direction and look for something better,” Miazga said. “Things aren’t working the way they’ve worked in the past, and we need to open ourselves to new ideas to move forward.”
For the past two years, Hews has served on the Maine Rural Partners Board of Directors as a federal representative for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. During this time, he has also worked closely with the town of Strong and the Business and Civic Alliance. Hews reviewed and edited the Alliance’s recent grant to refurbish three mills in town. The Maine Department of Economy and Community Development accepted the grant and the town is moving forward with the project this summer.
For the past 17 years, Hews has also been the coordinator for Threshold to Maine RC&D, a program that works in Partnership with the USDA and NRCS, to provide technical assistance for land management, water management land conservation and community development in York, Cumberland, Oxford and Franklin counties.
During the meeting, Hews will outline the principles of the program, talk about commitments needed from the town, and field questions.
He also wants to hear about economic issues and concerns within the town, how those issues have been dealt with in the past and the resources the town is willing to commit to the proposed project. Most importantly, the Maine Rural Partners board of directors is looking for support from municipal officers, and community leaders and community members, Hews said.
“While we’re willing to offer technical assistance and resources, when the town steps up their involvement, that’s when the program becomes their own,” he said.
Miazga hopes there will be a large turnout from community members.
“If you’re at all concerned about the future of Strong, you should come to this meeting with an open mind,” Miazga said.
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