In February of 2018, a new grassroots effort calling itself the Katahdin Collaborative will kick off a year-long regional visioning process, in search of a strategy to revitalize the Katahdin Region of Maine.
“The regional visioning process is key to redeveloping a region that was once dependent on a paper manufacturing facility for a majority of its economic resource. When completed, the plan will provide insight on what direction we should pursue in restructuring the Katahdin Region. I am excited it’s happening and I encourage the public to get involved in the community events designed to give everyone an opportunity to have their voice heard,” said Steve Stanley, State Representative, D-Medway.
The Katahdin Collaborative was founded in 2015 as a network to facilitate communication, leverage resources and foster collaboration among volunteer groups, businesses, non-profit institutions and municipalities working toward the revitalization of the Katahdin Region.
The mission of the Katahdin Collaborative is to facilitate communication, leverage resources and foster collaboration among volunteer groups, businesses, non-profit institutions and municipalities working toward the revitalization of the Katahdin Region.
Recent years have seen increased activity among a variety of economic and community development groups in the Katahdin region. These include long standing groups such as the Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce, Northern Timber Cruisers, and the Katahdin Tourism Partnership as well as emerging groups such as Our Katahdin, Katahdin Revitalization and the Katahdin Area Citizens Group, among others. At the encouragement of local leaders, representatives from these groups met in December 2015 to discuss the potential for collaboration.
Future iQ, a global consulting firm specializing in future and strategic planning, has been hired to facilitate the visioning process.
Thus, the Katahdin Collaborative organized informally and a one-year grant in support of collaborative work was secured from the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation by The Nature Conservancy.
Featured photo courtesy of the Katahdin Collaborative.