From Darrell.Bulmer at maine.gov  Fri Jul 18 16:31:37 2008
From: Darrell.Bulmer at maine.gov (Bulmer, Darrell)
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:31:37 -0400
Subject: [Creativeeconomy] Community Advisors Meet for Creative Economy
	Project
Message-ID: <199FFF7DB0D4724FA7630DEA667E838A047BF849@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us>

News Release

For immediate release: July 18, 2008
Contact: Sheila Jans, 728-4820, sjans at cultureworth.org

 
                                    Community Advisors Meet for Creative
Economy Project


St. John Valley: Close to a dozen people in the St. John Valley met
recently as the regional committee for the St. John Valley Creative
Economy Project, an initiative of the University of Maine System through
its campuses in Orono and Fort Kent. At their first meeting, committee
members learned about the general scope of the project, visitor surveys
being conducted at a selection of the region's events, focus group
meetings, and the sharing of resources between campuses. 

President Richard Cost of the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK), a
member of the regional committee says, "This grant is one very important
way in which we hope to strengthen the economy of this wonderful region.
At UMFK, we are pleased to support this project in any way that we can."


 In September, 2007 the University of Maine received close to $50,000
from the USDA-Rural Development's Rural Business Opportunity Grant
program to undertake a series of research and planning tasks focused on
strengthening opportunities for creative economic development in the St.
John Valley. The central goal of this project is to develop a Creative
Economy plan by June, 2009.

 The project's working team consists of Kathy Hunt and Caroline Noblet
from the University of Maine and Sheila Jans, a cultural development
consultant in Madawaska. The University of Maine at Fort Kent is a
partner. Additional contribution from U of Maine includes support from
the economic development initiatives program and the Center for Tourism
Research and Outreach (CenTRO).

 This project is a direct outgrowth of the St. John Valley Forum on the
Creative Economy held in Madawaska in 2005. The Forum provided the first
stage of discussions about the need for more strategic, innovative, and
sustained approaches to development. 

 Sheila Jans, regional coordinator, says, "The forum as well as other
initiatives, like the recently created Voici the Valley Cultureway,
built the foundation for this project. Our focus is on identifying new
opportunities and building regional prosperity by capitalizing on the
Valley's strongest, renewable, and inherent resources-our cultural
heritage and landscape." 

Progress on the project has been steady. Visitor intercept surveys are
being conducted to gain market information about visitors attending
annual cultural events in the Valley. The first event surveyed was the
Acadian Festival in Madawaska. Plans are being made to hold three focus
group meetings in early August to help identify readiness for arts- and
cultural-related business development and technical assistance needs.
Research on related development models and one-on-one interviews will
also be conducted throughout the year. The goal is to create a plan that
will include recommendations for strengthening the leadership capacity
of Valley residents for regional based creative economy planning as well
as arts-and cultural-related business and tourism development. Key to
this component of the plan will be the inclusion of strategies to foster
a positive climate for rural innovation and youth retention, as well as
the preservation and revitalization of traditional arts and cultural
heritages.

 For more information, contact Sheila Jans, Madawaska, 728-4820,
sjans at cultureworth.org, or Kathy Hunt, 992-4406,
kah at starboardleadership.

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