Charting Maine’s Future

On Election Day eve, we at GrowSmart Maine want to reach out with information about Communities for Maine’s Future and the Question 4 Bond.

It has been said that Maine’s economic development does not hinge on a single “silver bullet” approach, but instead will come with “a silver buckshot” approach, involving a targeted combination of incentives and programs. Question 4 represents just such a plan!

We encourage you to share this information with your friends and neighbors, and to vote YES on 4 tomorrow!

Programs Included in Question 4

This $23,750,000 bond issue for capital investment to stimulate economic development and job creation will leverage an additional $40,000,000 in private and federal funds. If approved, these programs will have real, immediate statewide impact and will create meaningful, productive jobs in the private sector for Maine workers.

Maine Historic Preservation Committee - $1,250,000
This program establishes a new tool to allow organizations to buy historically significant buildings at risk of destruction, resell the building to a private owner who agrees to rehabilitate it, and put easements in place to ensure the integrity of the building. Upon resale, the money will be returned to the fund, where it will be available for future projects.

Department of Community and Economic Development - $3,500,000
Provides funds to make investments under the Communities for Maine’s Future Program in competitive community and economic revitalization projects, which must be matched with at least $3,500,000. CMF focuses on projects that are part of an overall plan for the community and encourages collaboration by numerous community organizations. Funds can be used for a variety of revitalization projects, such as renovating a library or town hall, or installing sidewalks so the downtowns and village centers will offer more to local citizens.

Maine Technology Institute - $3,000,000
This program provides competitive awards for companies to invest in research and development or to commercialize a project, the phase of private enterprise where jobs are created and profits are possible. Partnering with the private sector makes MTI’s work essential to growing Maine’s economy. Grants must be awarded to Maine-based public and private institutions and must be awarded to leverage matching funds of at least $3,000,000.

Brunswick Naval Air Station Redevelopment - $8,000,000
This program will fund the redevelopment of BNAS to Brunswick Landing: Maine’s Center for Innovation The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority will be working with Southern Maine Community College to begin upgrading the former Brunswick Naval Air Station to become a critically needed new campus with an Advanced Technology and Engineering Center. These funds will leverage $32,500,000 in federal funds.

Finance Authority of Maine - $1,000,000
This program requires an equal match for each project for competitive awards to be invested in food processing infrastructure for Maine’s seafood and agricultural sectors.

Economic Recovery Loan Program - $3,000,000
Also administered through Finance Authority of Maine, this program provides “gap financing” to assist businesses in their efforts to remain viable and/or improve productivity. The funds are also used for energy related loans, hi-tech loans, and quick response loans following natural disasters. Due to the current economic climate in the state, as well as the outlook through 2011, demand for these funds by Maine businesses as they weather the economic storm will be significant.

Small Enterprise Growth Fund - $4,000,000
The Small Enterprise Growth Fund is a Maine venture capital fund that invests solely in new Maine start-up companies in a wide variety of industries. The SEGF will use the proceeds to assist companies who grow and create high paying jobs within the state.

Helpful links:
Communities for Maine’s Future page on our website
- Read more about program specifics, and how downtown revitalization creates jobs, makes downtowns more attractive places to live, promotes energy efficiency and helps to preserve open space.

Summary of Question 4 bond programs from the Kennebec Journal
-Bullet point explanation of each Question 4 program.

Secretary of State’s Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election
-This is a comprehensive guide for all ballot items. Information for Question 4 starts on page 42 of the document.

Where to vote!
-Find your polling place at maine.gov.

This Lewiston Sun Journal article reports that the Farmington Downtown Association recently held a well-attended public forum to discuss downtown revitalization efforts. Today’s Morning Sentinel also features this story about a series of facade improvements and public space investments beginning in Waterville funded by a community development block grant. Great news for vibrant downtowns!

These are also examples of the kinds of economic and community development that will be featured at the Revitalizing Maine Communities Conference on June 3 & 4 in Augusta. Last year, I attended a great session that Shannon Haines, Executive Director of Waterville Main Street (and prominently featured in the Sentinel article) and Rachael Weyand, of Heart of Biddeford, presented at the Maine Downtown Conference in Rockland. They shared the successes and challenges of some of Waterville and Biddeford’s respective efforts to foster and grow their creative economies. The session, held in a downtown Rockland gallery, resulted in an engaging conversation with all of the participants about the importance of the creative economy in communities of all sizes. Shannon will be leading a workshop again this year at the Revitalizing Maine Communities Conference about Barrels Community Market, a nonprofit market that sells locally produced wares, that Waterville Main Street developed and founded.

Visit the conference website for the full listing of workshops.

GrowSmart Maine is pleased to partner with Maine Downtown Center and Maine Preservation to present the Revitalizing Maine Communities Conference in downtown Augusta on June 3 & 4. For more information, click here.

This dynamic two-day conference will showcase the economic value of downtown revitalization and historic preservation. Nationally-recognized keynote speakers include economic guru Donovan Rypkema and community branding specialist Tripp Muldrow. Twenty-four workshops provide training with a focus on real solutions for Maine. Honor awards celebrate innovation, leadership and success. Networking opportunities provide memorable connections, all located in historic downtown Augusta.

Maine Downtown Center, Maine Preservation, and GrowSmart Maine have worked in partnership in the Maine Downtown Coalition, and in advocating for legislation in Augusta (like the Historic Preservation Tax Credit and Communities for Maine’s Future). We are looking forward to this two-day event that will highlight, develop, and grow the connections between vibrant downtowns, historic preservation, economic development and Maine’s Quality of Place.

Register today!

The conference is sponsored by:

Lead Sponsor:
Bangor Savings Bank

Major Sponsor:
Department of Economic and Community Development

Partners and Champions:
Lipman Katz & McKee
Consigli Construction Co. Inc.
Eaton Peabody Consulting Group, LLP
Wright-Pierce
Maine Turnpike Authority
MaineGeneral Health
R.H. Reny, Inc.
WBRC Architects - Engineers

Supporters and Friends:
Norway Savings Bank
Verrill Dana, LLP
Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce
Kennebec Valley Council of Governments
Mattson
Sutherland Conservation & Consulting

A new report from Rutgers University on the Federal Historic Tax Credit (read it here) has found that, in short, preservation = jobs. Here is a summary of some of the cumulative impacts (1978 - 2008) of the federal historic tax credit from the Rutgers report:

• An inflation-adjusted (2008 dollars) $16.6 billion federal historic tax credit
cost to date has encouraged a five times greater amount of historic
rehabilitation ($85 billion).
• This rehabilitation investment has generated about 1.8 million new jobs and
billions of dollars of total (direct and secondary) economic gains.
• The cumulative impacts to the national economy include: output ($198
billion), gross domestic product ($98 billion), income ($72 billion), and taxes
($29 billion, including $21 billion in federal tax receipts).
• The leverage and multiplier benefits as noted above give support to the
argument that the federal HTC is a strategic investment. Our results also
show that the federal cost of the HTC—a cumulative $16.6 billion in 2008
inflation-adjusted dollars—is more than offset by the $21 billion in federal
taxes realized to date.

This is great news for Maine, with the expansion of our state’s historic preservation tax credit that GrowSmart Maine and our allies helped pass in 2008. Projects like the Hathaway Creative Center in Waterville and the couples in Gardiner who have purchased buildings in the heart of its downtown (as reported by the Kennebec Journal last month) are just a few examples of how Maine’s historic tax credit will help sustain redevelopment efforts in our downtowns.

Given the findings of this report, eliminating funding for two national historic preservation programs in the FY 2011 federal budget seems to be a short-sighted budget cut. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking its advocates to contact their members of Congress in support of restoring funding to the national Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America programs. Read more about them here and take action to contact your representatives in Congress here. Our Board Chair, Bonita Pothier, will be writing to our members of Congress on behalf of GrowSmart, and we hope that you do the same!

The Sunday, March 7, 2010, issue of the Kennebec Journal published an op-ed from our Board Chair Bonnie Pothier in support of the Communities for Maine’s Future bond that will go before Maine voters in June. Communities for Maine’s Future would support investment in Maine’s downtowns and Main Streets, helping communities create more vibrant local economies and enhance the unique Quality of Place of these special places. Read the full op-ed here and learn more about the Communities for Maine’s Future bond here on our website.

Check out GrowSmart’s latest “Charting the Course” column in Mainebiz. “Better Branding” explores how Maine’s public-sector economic development agencies are focusing on enhancing Maine’s “quality of place” assets in order to attract new jobs and businesses.

“All kinds of businesses — not just L.L. Bean, but also hunting camps, boat builders, bed and breakfasts, wedding caterers, furniture makers, horror novelists and thousands of others — have been making hay from the Maine brand for decades. This romantic idea of Maine also helps attract talented workers and businesses who bring their talents and incomes into our economy.”

Also, Ron Bancroft takes a look at how the gubernatorial race is shaping up in his column in today’s Portland Press Herald.

“What we do know is that the key issue in the campaign will be the economy and how to position Maine for job growth.

“The state desperately needs a real growth plan. With more jobs, many things are possible, without them the state will continue a slow downward spiral as chronic budget deficits and an aging workforce make needed investment for the future unlikely.”

Whether any of the candidates embrace the economic development plan laid out by the GrowSmart-Brookings Report, or introduce a new strategy, 2010 promises an engaging debate about how to move Maine forward.

We recently received a press release for an event that may be of interest to many of our readers…

AUGUSTA, September 22, 2009– Maine’s first comprehensive wind conference has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 6th from 7:30 a.m. – 6:15 p.m. Sponsored by the Wind Powering America Program, Maine Public Utilities Commission, USDA Rural Development, and others, the conference features Opening Remarks from Governor Baldacci, who will have just returned from a trade mission tour of European wind companies and will offer his views on growing wind energy in Maine. This will be followed by morning plenary presentations and an afternoon set of five breakout sessions with topics of interest to municipalities, schools and science teachers, developers, entrepreneurs, farmers, small businesses, manufacturers, vendors, innovators, and others. The conference will feature a full day of updates, information and previews of forthcoming programs and events, as well as exhibitors – something for everyone who is interested in growing wind energy in Maine.

Read about the program and register online at www.mainewindenergyconference.com.

The City of Portland recently established a new “Creative Economy TIF district” along Congress Street’s Arts District, the home to dozens of studios, galleries, sole-proprietorship businesses, and entertainment venues. In the past two decades, these businesses have grown into a major cluster and a driving force in the regional economy. The new TIF (or Tax Increment Financing) district seeks to support this cluster by directing a portion of property tax revenues from new projects in the area towards a new “Creative Portland Corporation,” which would invest in economic development projects focused on fostering and growing the city’s creative economy.

Now, the Creative Economy District has received its first major development proposal: a plan to rehabilitate the old Baxter Library (pictured above - until recently, the building was used as classroom and studio space for the Maine College of Art) as offices for the VIA Group, a thriving creative-economy business with offices in Portland and New York City.

Here’s how the TIF would work: when complete, the project would generate an additional $46,000 in new property tax revenue in the city (the building was previously owned by a nonprofit). Under the proposed TIF arrangement, for the next nine years, about $30,000 of that new revenue would be returned to the developer, to help finance the project and its historic preservation elements, and the remaining $16,000 would be invested in the Creative Portland Corporation. In the tenth year, the TIF would expire and all of the building’s property taxes would go into the City’s general fund.

Presumably, the developers will also be taking advantage of state-level historic preservation tax credits, the passage of which was a major focus of GrowSmart Maine’s work in the Legislature two winters ago.

VIA already employs 64 people in Portland, and the new space would give it room to expand, along with the less tangible benefits of collaborating and interacting with other tenants and businesses in the neighborhood.

Critics of TIF districts sometimes complain that they rob tax revenue from other city obligations, like schools or fire departments. But without the TIF investment, it’s hard to imagine a complex historic rehabilitation project like this one happening - the only alternative is to let a beautiful historic building sit empty, which wouldn’t benefit anyone. With the TIF arrangement, City Hall will have to wait ten years to receive the new property tax revenue - but in the meantime, the rest of the city will receive new creative vitality on Congress Street, a beautifully renovated building, new commerce, and new creative economy investments.

This is a public investment that will not only benefit Portland’s economy, but will also enhance its “quality of place” by preserving a historic landmark and by bringing more creative workers downtown. Kudos to the developers for taking on this project, to the VIA Group for supporting it, and to the City of Portland’s highly-creative “Creative Economy TIF” policies for letting it happen.

The renovations of the former Hathaway shirt factory are nearly complete, and the building’s rebirth has brought lots of new jobs and households into downtown Waterville.

Last winter, students at Colby College interviewed the project’s developer, Paul Boghossian (who is also a GrowSmart Maine board member), as well as several longtime employees of the former shirt factory. Here’s the documentary they produced - it’s very much worth watching.

This film is one of a series produced by students in English professor Phyllis Mannocchi’s “American Dreams” documentary film course. You can find more documentaries like this one at Colby’s multimedia website.

Learn more about the new office space and apartments at the Hathaway Creative Center here:
www.hathawaycreativecenter.com

Two recent empirical studies have analyzed the relationships between neighborhood’s “walkability” and local real estate values, and the evidence suggests that real estate locations within walking distance of important shops and services is more likely to increase in value.

Both studies used Walk Score to measure a particular location’s walkability. Walk Score is a Google Maps-based application that calculates the number of shops and services that are located within a mile (walking distance) of a particular location. If an address has a lot of supermarkets, drug stores, movie theaters, libraries, and other services close by, it gets a higher walk score; if there aren’t any services located within a mile, the Walk Score is zero.

It’s not perfect, but its scores do confirm most peoples’ perceptions of whether or not an area is “walkable.” My childhood home in rural Steep Falls, where my family never, ever walked to run daily errands, scored a zero; but Main Street in Waterville and downtown Rockland both score a 98 out of 100, while small-town Main Streets in Houlton, Caribou, Bethel, and Norway all score as “very walkable” in Walk Score’s calculations.

In some neighborhoods, real estate agents have begun promoting high “walk scores” as a selling point. Which leads to the central question of these studies: do higher “walk scores” really translate into higher real estate values?

The answer seems to be “yes.” In the “Walking the Walk” report, released by CEOs for Cities, researcher Joe Cortwright analyzed 15 housing markets and found a statistically significant relationship between home values and neighborhood walk scores. Here’s a summary from the CEOs for Cities blog:

An example of the effect of walkability on housing values cited in the study is found in Charlotte, NC. In a neighborhood with a typical Walk Score of 54 called Ashley Park, the median home price was $280,000. In a neighborhood with an above average Walk Score – 71 – called Wilmore, an otherwise similar home would be valued at $314,000. Controlling for all other factors including size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, age, neighborhood income levels, distance from the Central Business District and access to jobs, “if you were to pick up that house in Ashley Park, and place it in more walkable Wilmore, it would increase in value by $34,000 or 12 percent,” Cortright said.

A similar study by researchers at the University of Arizona used slightly different methods to arrive at a similar conclusion.

Gary Pivo and Jeffrey Fisher studied all types of properties, including retail, office, and industrial properties, and concluded that “a 10 point increase in walkability [on the Walk Score scale] increases property values by 5 to 8 percent, depending on property type.” You can read their working paper here.

Of course, these findings have big implications for municipal leaders, economic development professionals, and transportation planners. By investing in sidewalks and revising zoning codes to encourage pedestrian-friendly development, officials can boost property tax revenues and generate new wealth for homeowners and commercial landlords in their communities.

Download the full “Walking the Walk” report here.