GrowSmart Maine

  • Purpose:  To expand grassroots base, promote regional collaborations, and engage the public.
  • Award: $50,000, $50K will be released when $100K match raised by 12/31/09
  • Read the proposal (PDF)

    • GIS Map

    GSM - GIS Map

    Mission and Purpose: GrowSmart Maine (GSM) promotes sustainable prosperity for all Mainers by integrating working and natural landscape conservation, economic growth, and community revitalization. GSM promote Quality of Place by convening and engaging in public conversations about Maine’s future, contributing common sense policy analysis, educating the public, advocating for state and local change, and supporting model practices.

    History: GrowSmart Maine was founded in 2002 to address the issues of sprawl in Maine. In 2004 the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, commissioned and assisted by GrowSmart Maine began 18 months of research and analysis of Maine. The result, Charting Maine’s Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and Quality Places, was released in April 2006, forever linking economic prosperity and preservation of the unique character of this wonderful state.

    Since the report was released in 2006, GSM has made great strides in enhancing our quality of place, growing the innovation economy and increasing efficiency, the three primary goals identified in Charting Maine’s Future. GSM spent the past 24 months working on the Model Town project in Standish and will, this fall and winter, roll out the ‘lessons learned’ to planners across the state. The Legislature has passed a statewide building and energy code, a historic preservation tax credit, and a new investment fund for community revitalization.  Research and development investments passed in 2007 have generated or preserved dozens of high-value jobs and fostered new growth among some of Maine’s most innovative businesses.

    This year, GrowSmart Maine will continue its work to build the foundation of a coalition of those devoted to protecting the landscape of Maine (green) and those who are committed to revitalizing and focusing new growth in our existing communities (brown).

    This green/brown alliance, envisioned as a powerful statewide coalition, will be an innovation for Maine.  Maine has a long history of conflicting environmental and economic priorities. With this new alliance we have the opportunity to forge common ground toward prosperity.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    About the 2009 Grantees

    Casco Bay Estuary Partnership

     GrowSmart Maine (PDF)

     Healthy Community Coalition 

    Maine Conservation Voters Education Fund 

    Maine Development Foundation 

    Maine Farmland Trust 

    Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine,

    Trust for Public Land 

     

    Learn More

    EFN’s Quality of Place Initiative