GrowSmart Maine
Excerpts from
Brookings Report
Summary:
What is GrowSmart Maine?
GrowSmart Maine is a
statewide non-profit
citizens' organization
that is promoting
sustainable prosperity
and the protection of
Maine's special
character. Members
include concerned
citizens, business
people,
conservationists,
political leaders and
local officials, among
others. GrowSmart is
working to bring Maine
people together across
the many divides that
separate us: political
affiliation, geography,
place of birth or
income. Our goal is to
mobilize people around
shared strategies to
shape a better future.
What is the Brookings
Institution?
Based in Washington,
D.C., the Brookings
Institution is a one of
the world's largest and
most prestigious think
tanks. Brookings
provides research and
policy advice on
economic development,
governance issues,
foreign policy, economic
trends, and metropolitan
and regional development
issues. "Charting the
Future" was produced by
Brookings' Metropolitan
Policy Program, which
provides cutting-edge
analysis and
recommendations on the
shifting realities of
cities, regions and
towns. The program works
throughout the U.S. and
in many parts of the
world.
How was the report
developed?
In sponsoring this
report, GrowSmart Maine
asked Brookings to
produce an unvarnished
picture of Maine and how
we are changing, and to
propose an action plan.
The plan had to address
three questions.
- How can we build a
stronger economy without
wrecking what's special
about Maine?
- Are we organized to
compete with other
regions of the country?
- How can we better work
together on our common
hopes for Maine?
The answers took a year
and a half to develop.
Brookings reviewed
nearly every significant
report done on Maine in
recent decades, hired
six prominent experts to
produce new research,
and gathered first-hand
testimony from across
Maine. Last spring,
GrowSmart Maine held a
series of more than 40
listening sessions -
from Caribou to Alfred -
with local leaders,
business people,
government officials,
sportsmen and
conservationists,
developers and regular
folks.
How was
the report funded?
Producing
and disseminating the
Brookings report will
cost close to a million
dollars, with
fundraising ongoing.
About half of the needed
total will go directly
to Brookings and its
subcontractors and to
producing, printing and
mailing the report. The
other half is going
toward public outreach.
How can a
three-year-old
organization like
GrowSmart Maine afford
such a hefty price tag
while keeping its own
fledgling organization
intact? It has a wide
base of support. Roughly
one third of GrowSmart's
funding comes from
foundations, one third
from businesses and one
third from individuals
and other organizations.
"This is intentional,"
says GrowSmart President
and CEO Alan Caron. "We
are trying to bring
people together across a
wide spectrum of
interests and geography
and we want many
different people to have
a stake in the
organization, and none
to have a controlling
influence."
The
following groups
provided financial
support for the
Brookings Institution
report:
Foundations and
Organizations
The Maine
Community
Foundation
Elmina B.
Sewall
Foundation
Davis
Conservation
Foundation
Leonard
C. and Mildred F.
Ferguson
Foundation
Horizon
Foundation
Fore
River
Foundation
Aristotle
Investors
Maine
Coast Heritage
Trust
The
Nature Conservancy
Businesses
L.L.
Bean, Inc.
Bath Iron
Works-A General Dynamics
Company
The Fore
River
Company
Citizens
Financial Group
Dead
River
Company
Verizon
Communications
The
Jackson
Laboratory
Merrill
Marine Terminal
Services
Verrill
Dana
Hancock
Land
Company
Hancock
Lumber
Company
Maine
Mutual
Group
Clark
Associates
Insurance
Monks
O'Neil
Development
OneBeacon
Insurance
Group
Turner
Barker
Insurance
Bowdoinham Federal
Credit
Union
Dictar
Associates
Key
Bank
Maine
Credit Union League
Patrons
Oxford Insurance
Company
Portland
Builders
Random
Orbit
Re/Max by
the
Bay
United
Insurance
Group
Individuals
Angus
King and Mary Herman
Horace A.
Hildreth,
Jr.
Walter
and Helen
Norton
2032
Trust
Anonymous
John and
Eva Morrill
Ian and
Lisa
Gamble
Anne and
Alexander Buck,
Jr.
Daniel
Hildreth
Connie
McCabe and Chris
Duval
Roger
Berle
Michael
Fiori
Charlotte
Fullam
William
F.
King
Peter
Lawrence
Dick
Spencer
Kenneth
Spirer and Joan Leitzer
Sean and
Jennifer Mahoney
Government
Maine
State Planning Office
