CARIBOU, Maine — The Northern Maine Development Commission executive board has approved the organization’s recently completed strategic plan, which they have titled their “Next Generation Strategic Plan.”
Jim Haguewood of One Group Consulting and Sheila Jans of CultureWorth developed the plan, which was introduced during a Dec. 14 meeting of NMDC. The plan originated after the NMDC Executive and Board leadership recognized that the organization needed to assess its performance and recalibrate its strategic priorities and direction. The plan is an organizational strategy developed with broad public, private, and non-profit sector input, staff and board perspectives, as well as critical analysis and application of proven rural community economic development principles.
“The research findings revealed that five target impact areas that must be influenced to address the forces and alter the adverse trends,” said Haguewood. “Fundamentally, the retention and attraction of people is the core factor for the future viability of communities and the economy of Aroostook and Washington counties.”
Robert Clark, executive director of NMDC, said that the key premise of the plan is to “generate ‘greater impact’ in the communities and economy through the deployment of NMDC’s resources, being predictive of the future, being innovative with an entrepreneurial mindset and integrating an open systems planning model.”
The Strategic Roadmap is a five-year guide for NMDC to set priorities, formulate yearly work plans, and evaluate performance. The elements and focus areas include community services, quality of place, arts and culture, and destination development. It will also shine a spotlight on finance, particularly access to capital, technical support and entrepreneurship, as well as partnerships, including alliances with customers, organizations, agencies and communities.
Communications will factor prominently, including audience-appropriate messaging, programming, operation/structure and professional development.
Some of the goals include, by 2023, Aroostook and Washington counties having a mix of over 100 vibrant and prosperous communities “delivering efficient and effective municipal services to 105,000 residents and yielding $2.4B in total wages,” the document states. Also, By 2020, NMDC aims to have a financially stable organization, with over 50 percent of revenues from non-grant sources, producing positive impacts from proactive investments, with a highly skilled and motivated staff and an enthusiastic Board of Directors.
One strategy includes NMDC leading an enhanced focus on the tourism sector through destination planning for Aroostook and Washington counties starting in 2018..In 2019, NMDC also plans to engage Washington County leaders and key organizations to explore a collaborative destination development planning effort, including an introduction to the Aroostook County destination development strategy and Quality of Place findings.
Starting in 2019, NMDC plans to target lending to agriculture, small and micro-businesses, technology based service companies, and manufacturer sectors that have impact on job creation and increased economic value. With a $20M loan fund, NMDC yield an average of 30 loans per year.
The complete strategic plan can be found at www.nmdc.org.
