Press releases:

Sept. 18 , 2007: GrowSmart Maine Seeks "Smart Growth" Changes to Plum Creek Proposal, Raises Connections to Global Warming

June 26, 2007: Bank of America Presents $40,000 Check to GrowSmart Maine

GrowSmart Maine in the News

Press reports of GrowSmart Maine initiatives and events.

General GrowSmart Maine News

Top Stories of 2007. MaineBiz: December 2007. The Brookings report and GrowSmart's subsequent work ranks as one of the biggest Maine business news stories of the year.

Editor's Note: Maine's "Best Kick in the Butt". Down East Magazine: January 2008. Paul Doiron, Editor of DownEast Magazine, honors GrowSmart's advocacy and the "Charting Maine's Future" report in the magazine's first annual "Best of Maine" issue.

Summit 2007 Energizes Believers. Lewiston Sun-Journal: October 20, 2007. A business section feature summarizes the major speeches delivered at Summit 2007 and describes the historic mill redevelopment workshop in detail.

What Is Happening and Where Are We Going? Camden Free Press: May 2006. How is the economy and use of land in Maine changing? What do we, the citizens, want to do about it? Those were the topics of discussion last Wednesday night at the Camden Opera House when Bruce Katz, vice-president of the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank, and director of its Metropolitan Policy division, solicited the thoughts of local residents on growth happening in their communities.

State Growth, Identity Debated. Portsmouth Herald: May 5, 2006. The question is this: How can you build prosperity in Maine without destroying its unique character?  The answer is one being investigated by GrowSmart Maine, which took to the road for a whirlwind four days last week, starting in Caribou on Monday and ending 1,100 miles later April 27 in Alfred.

GrowSmart Forum Offers Visions for Future. Brunswick Times-Record: May 1, 2006. Alan Caron and his associates from GrowSmart Maine were completing their eighth 90-minute presentation in three days Thursday but any fatigue they were feeling had dissipated by the end of session, helped by a standing room crowd of more than 100 who crammed into the Morrell Meeting Room of the Curtis Memorial Library.  The topic was hot: How to plan for growth without losing the character of Maine's small towns and rural areas.

Sprawl Big Issue for Maine. Kennebec Journal: January 1, 2006. Cities and towns need to dust off their comprehensive plans and put them to use, or the state will continue to lose its distinctive character.

Think Tank Places Bets on Maine. Portsmouth Herald: Oct. 23, 2005. A Washington, DC think tank, the Brookings Institution, is taking a bet on Maine--taking a bet that it's not too late to curtail sprawl; taking a bet residents with differing ideologies care enough about the state to talk constructively; taking a bet that young people will want to stick around if there are jobs for them.

Government Streamlining News

Read all entries related to Government Efficiency in the "Charting Maine's Future" blog.

Prosperity Report on Maine Issued: Plan for Maine's Future Success Garners Bipartisan Support. Victoria Wallack, Brunswick Times-Record: January 4, 2008. A news story that describes the bipartisan collaboration of the Legislature's Prosperity Committee, which endorsed the Brookings Institution's recommendation that Maine create an independent streamlining commission to trim state government.

Hardheaded panel needed to weed government chaff. Kennebec Journal: Nov. 13, 2007. An editorial that calls for the quick implementation of a BRAC-like independent commission to streamline Maine's state government.

Way to economic reform may open soon. Portland Press Herald: Nov. 6, 2007. An op-ed column by business consultant Ron Bancroft advocates for an independent commission to make serious progress in the effort to streamline state government.

Big Tax Cuts Promoted at Gathering. Kennebec Journal: Oct. 20, 2007. A news story reporting on Summit 2007 focuses on David Flanagan's bold proposal to cut $800 million from the state budget, and also summarizes the themes of Professor Ron Heifetz's keynote address.

Grow sales tax, shrink income tax, state officials advised. State House News Service: Oct. 10, 2007. Knight Kiplinger of the Kiplinger Letter quotes heavily from the GrowSmart-Brookings Report in recommendations delivered to Maine municipal officials.

TABOR Revival in the Works Kennebec Journal: June 16, 2007. Activists are promising a new, more politically-appealing version of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which could reappear on the ballot for the November 2008 election.

Statehouse: Panel to Peek Into Future Kennebec Journal: June 28, 2007. A news article detailing the new Joint Select Committee on Maine's Future Prosperity, which will work over the summer to provide "big picture" policy recommendations to the next Legislative session.

Forum: Economy would get boost if state reined in spending. Portland Press Herald: June 12, 2007. Business development consultant Ron Bancroft advocates the "cut to invest" strategy and urges state government to commit to bolder savings in its budget.

Change is on the Horizon for Maine. Portsmouth Herald: May 27, 2007. GrowSmart President Alan Caron discusses some of the optimistic findings of the Brookings Report and focuses on the remaining goal of streamlining Maine's government.

Editorial: Panel to find waste could unlock budget impasse. Maine Sunday Telegram Editorial: May 13, 2007. The Editorial Board of the Maine Sunday Telegram looks to the proposed Government Efficiency Commission as a means towards compromise in the annual state budget debate.

Expert says Maine is moving fast on report. Deborah McDermott, Portsmouth Herald: May 8, 2007. A summary of our York town meetings focuses on our accomplishments so far and the remaining goal of streamlining state government.

Group: Too much bureaucracy inhibits state's economic growth. Joel Elliot, Morning Sentinel: March 16, 2007. A report on our Waterville regional town meeting outlines the recommendations of the Brookings Report and focuses on the need to “cut costs, lower taxes and concentrate on revitalizing communities in order to enter a ‘new era of sustainable prosperity.’”

Quality Places News

Read all entries related to Quality Places in the "Charting Maine's Future" blog.

Editorial: Invest in 'Quality of Place'. Bangor Daily News: Dec. 18, 2007.

Voters to Consider $17 Million Funding Package. Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel: October 14, 2007. Next month, voters will go to the polls to decide whether to issue another bond that includes $17 million for Land for Maine's Future - the largest single component of the $35 million bond issue for land conservation, water access, wildlife habitat, other outdoor priorities.

Spreading the Word About Maine's Assets. Portland Press Herald: July 17, 2007. Maine's affordable quality of place is attracting human capital from all over the nation.

Challenge: Capitalizing on Maine's quality of place without ruining it: Maine Sunday Telegram, July 15, 2007. Richard Barringer, chair of the Governor's Commission on Maine's Quality of Place, and State Economist Catherine Reilly discuss the importance of Maine's "quality of place" to our state's economy.

A Regional Vision: York County towns' growth caps are being used as a model to prevent sprawl -- and save woodlands.

Maine Voices: Invest in quality to draw tourists. Bob Dunfey, Portland Press Herald: May 14, 2007. Bob Dunfey of the Dunfey Hospitality Group argues that the proposed Quality Places Fund, paid for with a 3-cent increase in the lodging tax, is an investment that “could be the best thing that’s ever happened to Maine tourism.”

Editorial: Tourism Tax Hike Can’t Come in a Vacuum. Maine Sunday Telegram: April 22, 2007. The Telegram editorializes that raising the lodging tax is worth considering as a way to "spend money on the attractions that bring tourists here," but trimming state government (another Brookings recommendation) needs to be another high priority.

Editorial: York County’s Growth Warning Sign for State. Portland Press Herald: April 16, 2007. Accompanying a feature story on York County’s growth, the Press Herald quotes “Charting Maine’s Future” extensively to advocate for better state and regional planning.

Op-Ed Column: 'Unfair discount' is akin to subsidy. Lewiston Sun-Journal: May 6, 2007. Lewiston innkeeper Jan Barrett notes that Maine's lodging tax is significantly lower than that of other tourist destinations. A new Quality Places Fund from a 3 cent tax increase could protect and enhance the landscapes that attract tourists and a mobile workforce: "If we invest in the places that tourists come to see, we'll also be investing in growing Maine's economy."

Economic Development News

Read all entries related to Economic Development in the "Charting Maine's Future" blog.

Maine's $55 Million Secret. Maine Sunday Telegram: Oct. 14, 2007. "State officials, backed by a study of the Maine economy by the Brookings Institution, believe that research and development can lead to commercial products, and the hope is that companies pursuing that commercialization will be based in the state."

Grow sales tax, shrink income tax, state officials advised. State House News Service: Oct. 10, 2007. Knight Kiplinger of the Kiplinger Letter quotes heavily from the GrowSmart-Brookings Report in recommendations delivered to Maine municipal officials.

Spreading the Word About Maine's Assets. Portland Press Herald: July 17, 2007. Maine's affordable quality of place is attracting human capital from all over the nation.

The Bottom Line: Maine Hobbled by Obsolete Boundaries. Charles Lawton, Maine Sunday Telegram: May 27, 2007. Economist Charles Lawton argues that Maine has reason to be optimistic for its future if we can broaden our definitions of the common interest.

GrowSmart Seeks Route to Prosperity. Ann Bryant, Lewiston Sun-Journal. Wednesday, April 25, 2007. report on the Farmington town meeting reports on the “good news/bad news” components of the GrowSmart-Brookings report.

Frenchville: Growth, Prosperity in Valley Focus of Forum. Bangor Daily News: March 26, 2007. Just prior to our Aroostook County town meetings, this article quoted local officials “urging residents to come out in force to attend the regional forum” and related a recent “blizzard of economic growth” in the St. John Valley to our plan for sustainable prosperity.