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Redeveloping the North Country Economy
By Laura Knoy on Wednesday, July 15, 2009.
The Northern Forest Center has just released a new report detailing a strategy for how New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and New York can all work together to revitalize the economy in their respective northern communities. The plan was put together by civic and business leaders throughout the region. We’ll look at the plans and possibilities for making the North Country economically vibrant once more.
Guests
- Joe Short, Sustainable Economies Initiative Program Manager for the Northern Forest Center
- Rachael Stuart, senior program director of the Neil & Louise Tillotson Fund at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
- Charlie Jordan, editor of New Hampshire Magazine and longtime North Country journalist
We'll also hear from
- Peter Riviere, executive director of the Coos Economic Development Corporation
- Jim Tibbets, president and CEO of First Colebrook Bank, member of the Sustainable Economies Initiative Steering Committee and organizer of "Coos Goes South"
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You should be aware of Berln's Norm Charest 's 2121 plan for Berlin that makes Berlin the hub of an outdoor adventure industry. He's using the outdoor advantages to attract business and he's already got a number of businesses engaged. He's got the backing of the Mayor & Council and tourism.
The guests are correct. The economy of the north country has changed substantially in recent years. The jobs that have been lost are the best paying jobs possible - high salaries with good benefits. That includes the forest products industry and others. A key strategy is to keep what we still have, whether the forest products industry jobs that still remain or other livable wage jobs. Tourism is part of the answer but the jobs are not living wage jobs. Keep what we still have while building a new economy.
The work of The Northern Forest Center along with the North Country Council has provided communities here in the North Country a strong framework for helping people readjust their thinking about the economy. More and more people, organizations, and plans are talking & thinking regionally. The work that has been done goes far beyond strategies for the economy, it also touches on healthy communties, history, culture, and more. Many of the communities in the Northern Forest do not have the capacity or the time to focus on issues regionally and the Northern Forest Center has taken the burden off the communities and have made themselves a resource to the region. In Berlin, we have taken advantage of the work that has been done and we have been using it to help bring a more regional tone to our current master planning process. It is important that we all continue to work and think in a broader context and about how each of our small communities fit into the larger region and economy.