Maine Development Foundation

MDF is honored and energized to be awarded $535,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) to offer critically needed training and online micro-credential courses for working-age Mainers who can fill the hundreds of open jobs in Maine’s forest products industry. Read the full press release: https://lnkd.in/gyqryxwG Thank you to Maine's U.S. Senators Angus King (I) and Susan Collins (R) for the advocacy that makes this award possible and to our partners Spruce Mountain Adult Education & Director Robyn Raymond, PhD, University of Maine FOR/Maine Ryan Bushey Merrill's Garage and many others. Yellow Light Breen @Erica Watson Rosie Vanadestine Jan Kearce @Maine Forest Products Council Donna Cassese

Congratulations to Marcia Minter, MDF's ICL (Institute for Civic Leadership) Rho Class Alum & Daniel Minter, ICL Omicron Class Alum, founders of Indigo Arts Alliance and 2020 winners of the ICL Distinguished Alum Award for well-deserved recognition from Center for Maine Contemporary Art at their recent annual Art Honors.⁠ ⁠ "We are filled with gratitude to be recognized by our community which allows us to further amplify the Indigo Arts Alliance mission of uplifting black & brown artists and transforming community. ⁠First and foremost, we are an artist in residency program. Our core belief is that artists are the key to creating a multiracial democracy" – Marcia Minter⁠, co-founder and Chief Officer of Strategic Growth.⁠ ⁠ ⁠By the end of this year, IAA will have hosted 66 artists in residence comprised of two residency programs; Mentorship Residency and the David C Driskell Fellowship; with artists directly and/or cultural heritages from 21 countries. ⁠ Photos credit: @Eli Kao⁠ Jan Kearce Yellow Light Breen Janet Sydnor Rosie Vanadestine Bangor Savings Bank Woodard & Curran The Jackson Laboratory

We join so many in celebrating the life and many, many contributions of Bill Williamson to Maine. He was a steadfast friend and supporter of MDF through the decades. We hold his family in our hearts and hope his memory is a blessing as you navigate these waters. https://lnkd.in/gytKjw2Z Yellow Light Breen Bank of America

MDF is honored to be a key partner in this initiative to foster workforce development and resilient forest communities across the state thanks to a $7 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). "The goal[of this four-year collaboration] is to strengthen the capacity of rural communities and the Wabanaki Nations to leverage culturally inclusive opportunities in the forest products sector. The project will tap into and integrate a broad variety of fields and interests — including artificial intelligence and informatics, wood-derived alternatives to plastic, rural and Wabanaki resilience, and economically diverse rural development. ... The grant will directly support more than 45 faculty, 85 undergraduate students, 10 graduate students and four postdoctoral researchers. It’s expected there will be collaborations between the universities and nonprofit organizations." - Mainebiz Read the full Mainebiz article below for more on this exciting initiative. Thanks to University of Maine for leading the effort and to our partners including University of Southern Maine, FOR/Maine, RURAL ASPIRATIONS PROJECT Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance Colby College University of Maine at Presque Isle University of Maine at Fort Kent Bates College University of Maine System (UMS) Deborah Roark, EdD, MBA @Erica Watson Yellow Light Breen Jan Kearce Rosie Vanadestine Janet Sydnor Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness Sheena Bunnell, PhD Amanda Rector Maine Department of Labor Maine Department of Economic and Community Development Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry https://lnkd.in/gENAaqkC

"Nobody's free until everybody's free!" - Fannie Lou Hamer Happy Juneteenth! #Juneteenth #FreedomDay #Equity #economicequity Yellow Light Breen Rosie Vanadestine Jan Kearce Janet Sydnor Bangor Savings Bank MEMIC Maine State Chamber of Commerce Maine Community Foundation Maine Department of Economic and Community Development University of New England Hannaford Supermarkets Martin's Point Health Care

A HUGE thank you to the Belfast community for the warm (and we don't mean the weather!) welcome to MDF & our Board of Directors yesterday. We so appreciate your gift of time, wisdom, and frank solution-oriented discussions around current #economicdevelopment opportunities & challenges, and your VERY bright visions for the future. We look forward to our ongoing partnership and work together. #Dirigo! Special thanks to MDF Board Member & CEO of Penobscot Community Health Care Lori Dwyer & team - particularly Edward Marsh for hosting us! Gratitude galore to Dorothy Havey, Belfast Regional Chamber, Mary Mortier, BOD Chair, Our Town Belfast, and JB Turner, CO-owner, Front Street Shipyard for the inspirational tours. Thank you to so many more for making the time to be with us and educate us - including @Erin Herbig, Belfast City Mgr., Tom Kittredge, Belfast Econ Dev Dir. & member of MDF's Maine Economic Growth Council, and Chip Curry. Yellow Light Breen Rosie Vanadestine Janet Sydnor Anne Ball Linda Ball Rick Leonard Trampas Hutches Catherine Wygant Fossett Dayton Benway Theresa Cody, CERP Tumushabe Charles @Larry Sterrs Heather Roberts @Janice Dodge

We are thrilled to see this terrific Sun Journal profile of @Andrea Burns, a longtime partner & champion of MDF's Maine Downtown Center. Andrea, you are a model of leadership that makes Maine downtowns HOME to so many, and of how to lead economic & community development efforts both large and small. We share the #gratitude expressed by many in this article and add the MDF Family's thanks for all you do - including with Scott Berk and @Brenda Melhus as mentioned in the article - but also with @Dennis Holt, who shared MDF's Downtown Visionary Award with you in 2017, and so many, many others who have joined you over the years. Your impact continues through NORWAY DOWNTOWN - an official MDC Affiliate organization. We can't wait to see how Norway continues to blossom, thanks to you. Anne Ball Perri Williams Sylvie Piquet Yellow Light Breen Anne Schlitt Rosie Vanadestine Jan Kearce @Discover Downtown Westbrook Main Street Skowhegan Heart of Ellsworth Ellsworth Heart of Biddeford Visit Bath Gardiner Main Street Augusta Downtown Alliance Brunswick Downtown Association Saco Main Street Bangor Savings Bank Maine Community Foundation Maine Preservation #downtown #historicpreservation #communitydevelopment #economicdevelopment https://lnkd.in/gx-XxBvm

What community leader, small business, and/or awesome project helps make your town HOME? MDF's Maine Downtown Center is looking for nominations for this year's highest honors: MDC's Project of the Year, Downtown Small Business of the Year, and MDF's William. F. King Jr. Downtown Champion awards. For more information on the criteria for each award and to nominate: https://lnkd.in/gpC4BP4w The deadline is coming right up: Monday, June 10. So please nominate today! Awards will be presented at the Maine Downtown Conference this November in Biddeford and Saco. Nominations are being accepted through Monday, June 10th at noon and must be from one of our Main Street, Affiliate, or Municipal communities (community map is here https://lnkd.in/g5VVWRNe .) Bangor Savings Bank The Jackson Laboratory Institute for Family-Owned Business Maine State Chamber of Commerce Maine Department of Economic and Community Development Maine Community Foundation Heart of Ellsworth Ellsworth Heart of Biddeford United Way of Southern Maine Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce Sunrise County Economic Council Our Town Belfast Main Street Skowhegan ROCKLAND MAIN STREET INC Saco Main Street @Discover Downtown Westbrook @Vision Hallowell Visit Bath Yellow Light Breen Perri Williams Rosie Vanadestine Janet Sydnor Jan Kearce L.L.Bean Hannaford Supermarkets MEMIC

MDF in the house - if not quite in the BOOT - with longtime Champion Circle member, L.L.Bean. #economicdevelopment #communitydevelopment #Maine #leadership #economy #gratitude Yellow Light Breen Janet Sydnor Eric Soelberg Janice O'Rourke Jan Kearce Rosie Vanadestine

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, our "Measures of Growth: Indicator in Action" Blog dives into the data around mental & behavioral health and how it intersects with Maine's economy as a whole. We highlight Teens to Trails, one of the organizations helping address and overcome these challenges by connecting young Mainers to nature. Read the Blog here: https://lnkd.in/gh6uKYS4 Alicia Heyburn, MS Jennifer (Dauer) Hazard NAMI Maine Community Health Options Jennifer Thompson Amanda Mc Kenzie Sheena Bunnell, PhD LuAnn Ballesteros Stephen Von Vogt Keith Bisson Julia Trujillo Luengo Phoenix McLaughlin Yellow Light Breen Rosie Vanadestine Jan Kearce Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPH, FAAP Heather Finnemore Johnson Donna Cassese Eric Soelberg Linda Ball Catherine Wygant Fossett Michael McKernan Trampas Hutches Dayton Benway Catherine Reilly deLutio Pica // brand, strategy, design Cassidy Parmley #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #mentalwellness #behavioralhealth #economicdevelopment #healthequity