A recent report stated a medical manufacturing company was locating a plant in the River Valley and would bring over 100 jobs to the area. This is incorrect, and we want to set the right expectations for the River Valley Growth Council and regional economic development.

Every year companies looking to relocate, expand or set up new businesses canvass many possible business sites. The council, working with the local towns and state organizations, submits a proposal that showcases available spaces and costs. These proposals also try to show the region in its best light – available labor force, training initiatives that we can bring to the table, reasons why a company would want to locate here, any municipal incentives like tax abatements, etc. Every time we submit a proposal we make strong statements that we will have to live up to and we are confidant that, over time, we will be successful in bringing jobs to the region.

At this time the state of Maine may be competing with other states for this manufacturing opportunity and the River Valley is competing with other regions and towns within the state. The company in question has not yet decided if it is even coming to Maine, let alone to the River Valley.

As we have repeatedly said, this process takes a lot of time and hard work and we have confidence in the future, but we can’t be shouting “success” when we are still in the “What if?” stage.

Rich Allen, Mexico, president

Dick Lovejoy, Rumford, vice president

Board of Directors, River Valley Growth Council