LEWISTON – Three years ago, when Paul Badeau rolled out the “L-A It’s Happening Here” campaign, a few inquisitive sorts asked, “What’s happening here?”

Thursday he answered, ticking off a long list of advances that have raised the image of Lewiston and Auburn over the past year. Badeau, marketing director with the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, had more than enough examples, which he rolled out at the monthly Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

The successes:

• Stories in the Boston Globe, Inc. magazine and Maine Biz that portray a vibrant, safe community embracing a hipper image.

• The Brookings Institution report said L-A is “one of the most striking places in the U.S.” for its redevelopment activity.

• The Maine Real Estate and Development Association’s inclusion of the L-A market in its annual forecasting conference. And a flattering story in N.E. Real Estate Business magazine that notes how L-A has captured the attention of southern Maine’s real estate market in a big way.

There have been brick-and-mortar changes as well. The new KeyBank Business Center will be occupied by the end of the month; both libraries have completed stunning renovations, and nearly all the local colleges are expanding.

Entertainment options continue to expand with more restaurants opening, more events at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, more retail choices and the state’s largest, concrete-only skate park now open in Kennedy Park.

“The perception that L-A is an industrial community is diminishing,” said Badeau. “We’re not just a mill town anymore.”

But there’s still work to be done. A survey that the growth council undertook this year showed that 49 percent of the people polled strongly disagreed with the idea that L-A is a high crime community. In 2002, the rate was 64 percent.

“Our crime rate is better than Portland, Bangor and Augusta’s,” said Badeau, expressing his frustration at the stubborn myth.

He also touted the growth council’s new Web site, which is designed to be a “gateway to L-A,” he said. The colorful, interactive site offers searchable events calendars, news, tourist attractions, quick and quirky facts (did you know Patrick Dempsey of TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy” went to St. Dom’s high school?), lodgings and restaurants, little-known gems, timelines and development projects. The site, www.laitshappeninghere.com, was designed by T.H. Creations, a local company, and hosted by Oxford Networks.

“I’m very, very excited about this,” said Badeau. “We’ll be marketing it extensively.”

He encouraged the businesspeople gathered at the Ramada Inn for the breakfast to link their Web sites with the growth council’s to further promote the area in cyberspace. And to become ambassadors for the community by joining civic groups, attending local events and spreading the good news about L-A.

“Invest in our time and talent,” he said.