LEWISTON – Lewiston City Manager Jim Bennett will be the speaker when the National Association of Retired Federal Employees meets at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Ramada Inn.

Bennett will speak on the Southern Gateway Project that has begun to transform the entrance to downtown Lewiston. When completed, the gateway will feature Oxford Network, which is a state-of-the-art fiber optic telecommunications system.

Northeast Bank will be the first tenant of a building being constructed on Canal Street, which will also see many other improvements.

Bennett has been involved with the administration or policy-making for several Maine communities over the past two decades. He has served as a selectman and managed five municipalities, from a small community of 2,500 to the second largest city in the state.

Bennett has served in numerous leadership capacities, including on the Executive Board of the Maine Municipal Association, the Governor’s Municipal Advisory Board and several regional solid waste boards and strategic planning processes. He is past president of the Maine Town and City Management Association.

Bennett earned his MBA from the University of Southern Maine. He also has undergraduate degrees in business administration and accounting from the University of Southern Maine and Bentley College respectively.

Plans for the Feb. 24 meeting were made at a recent board meeting at the home of Vi Dumais. Attending were President Sue Stetson, Mike Bohunicky, Doris Hamel, Jayne Bickford, Roland Bellefleur and Therese Baumer.

Stetson will preside at the meeting and lunch will be served at noon.