In 2008, the City of Biddeford entered into a partnership with the Orton Family Foundation to create a Downtown Master Plan. (Photo credit: Maine: An Encyclopedia, maineanencyclopedia.com)

An Inclusive-Planning Process 

In 2008, the City of Biddeford began a new chapter in its vibrant history when it entered into a partnership with the Orton Family Foundation to develop a Downtown Master Plan.  The Orton Family Foundation is an organization that works with residents of small cities and towns to identify local assets, values, and priorities in an effort to support community-led planning.  After applying for and receiving a grant from Orton for $125,000 ($116,700 in-kind), the community kicked off what was known as the “Heartworks” process.  A three-year initiative, Heartworks encompassed three main phases:  community storytelling, neighborhood meetings, and the development of the downtown Master Plan.  Heartworks strove to engage a diverse and broad set of voices from the community to ensure an accurate and inclusive planning process.

“We really focused on hearing from voices that aren’t usually heard,” says Rachael Weyand, former executive director of Heart of Biddeford, the city’s main street organization.  “We spent a lot of time identifying populations that should be at the table.”  Biddeford’s youth were one of those sought-after voices and eventually became one of the most active and contributing groups during all stages of the process.

Place-Based Education and Storytelling

Early in the community visioning process, Weyand and Heart of Biddeford’s Youth Coordinator Holli Andrews looked for a teacher in the local high school who they could work with to engage students in the larger community.  In English teacher Carolyn Gosselin they found a partner who was enthusiastic, committed to the process, and well-liked and respected by the students at Biddeford High School School.  Gosselin’s “Senior English Perspectives in Literature” course was a natural fit to link classroom instruction with community-based learning, as one of the course units focuses on community and the oral storytelling tradition.

The collaboration between Gosselin and Andrews led to their development of the “LearnLocal Place-Based Education Curriculum,” which aims to see “students learn about real issues while simultaneously creating a voice for local youth in municipal decision-making.”  The curriculum comprises four phases:  finding a local issue, gathering stories, identifying values, and organizing results through student-led discussions.  (Click here to learn more about this curriculum and to download lesson plans and other resources).

In preparation for their upcoming storytelling and community projects, classes were held for students to share ideas about what they did and didn’t like about Biddeford and to express ways they thought the city could become a better place to live.  These sessions were an important kickoff to the larger student work in the community.  “Kids get so excited to have someone ask them how they feel about their town,” says Andrews.

Students interviewed family, friends, and neighbors to create videos which they edited and shared with classmates (Photo credit: Orton Family Foundation)

Carolyn Gosselin agrees:  “It comes down to empowerment.  It is important that students be asked to participate.”  Part of that empowerment occurred by actively showing the students that their voices were truly being heard and incorporated into the planning process.  Comments and opinions were always written down on paper, typed up, or posted on the walls to show students that their thoughts were part of the larger community conversation.  Creating “word clouds” was a popular and fun way to capture larger themes that developed during the conversations.

An important part of the place-based education curriculum developed by Gosselin and Andrews is the learning that takes place outside of the classroom, through gathering stories, touring the community, and participating in community meetings and events.  Armed with flip cameras, students interviewed family, friends, and neighbors to document Biddeford’s history, people, and values.  Holli Andrews notes that through conducting the interviews, many students “became envious” of their parents’ and grandparents’ experiences growing up in a vibrant Biddeford.  Through the interviews, they really became “dreamy about what it could be like” to live in a town that was alive and thriving, she said.  (Click here to watch some of the student-produced interview videos).

Field trips were arranged for the students to visit the downtown area and the mill complexes, mapping their travels and adventures using GPS.  For many students, this was their first time venturing into the downtown area, a place that many had been told to stay away from while growing up.  These trips ignited new student interest in downtown, as many were attracted by the history, architecture, and possibility of reviving the area into a place they would want to visit more often.

Students were an integral part of community conversations about the future of Biddeford. (Photo credit: Heart of Biddeford)

Students were active participants in the numerous neighborhood meetings organized during the Heartworks process.  These public meetings were designed to discuss issues of importance for improving the downtown area.  Students had a strong presence at these gatherings, which attracted over 300 people in the spring and summer of 2010. By working side by side with adults in the community, students also learned valuable skills about public speaking, working as a team, and advocating for themselves.  ”Engage youth in the downtown” became one of the seven key issues that were eventually identified through these meetings – another primary reason youth are such an important part of the final downtown master plan.

“Working in the community gives you opportunities to connect with people on a deep level that you wouldn’t otherwise meet,” says Biddeford High School senior Tom Laverriere.  “After establishing some connections, my motivation to stay involved is knowing that I can make a difference.”   After becoming active in Biddeford’s community planning, Tom says that “in my opinion, every community is worth the effort.  If you keep trying, people can’t ignore you.”

Bringing the Mills Back to Life

Students in Biddeford have not just been learning about the town’s history, they have been actively engaged in bringing some of that history back to life.  In fall 2011, the Biddeford High School drama program and National Honor Society partnered with the Biddeford Mills Museum to organize “ghost tours” of the Pepperell Mill Company buildings.  Local high school student Victoria Eon was a driving force in creating these tours, which developed from a smaller tour she led in the summer 2011 for the museum’s Summer Showcase.  Her connection to Biddeford and the mills runs deep.  “In 1960, my grandparents emigrated from Canada in pursuit of a better life, a better future for their children and grandchildren,” she says.  “They sought work at the Biddeford mills as laborers.”

Victoria Eon, performing as Catherine Cotton, during one of the historical tours of the mills. (Photo courtesy Victoria Eon)

Victoria and other students worked with teacher Carolyn Gosselin to research events that occurred at the mills and incorporated them into stories that would be performed during the tour.  “As advocates for the museum, Carolyn and I ensured that the stories were strictly based in historical events, for historical accuracy is paramount in preserving the museum’s integrity,” says Victoria.    The stories gathered and eventually performed by student actors during the tour of the mill complex included the tragic lives of local women Catherine Cotton and Mary Bean, a Native American curse placed on the nearby Saco River, and the Spanish flu epidemic that devastated the city’s Albanian Muslim community.  Almost 300 residents toured the mills during these ghost tours, led by 40 high school students.

Other tours have been organized, focusing on different periods and themes in Biddeford’s history, such as the impact of the Great Depression on the mills, the manufacturing of the Vellux blanket, and lives of mill girls.  The tours continue to be a success and are a part of the city’s larger effort to attract visitors through heritage tourism.  “No matter what the occasion, events like these get people excited by their community and its history.  It gives them something to be proud of.  It’s really great to see,” says Tom Laverriere.

‘This is Where I Grew Up, and It’s Awesome’

Though Biddeford continues to face economic challenges resulting from years of decline and the effects of the current economic downturn, things are looking up for Biddeford’s residents, both in terms of community pride and opportunities for economic progress.  “On a greater scale, my hometown’s views of itself have changed,” observes Victoria Eon, now a freshman at McGill University.  “It is not a dead-end at the end of the Industrial Revolution.  It is not a sleepy Maine town to escape from when college-time rolls around.  There is promise for development.  My neighbors feel grounded, rooted by their shared history.”

Delilah Poupore, Heart of Biddeford’s current executive director, agrees.  “One of the reasons Biddeford is leaping off is because we now have a stronger foundation and have pride in our history and roots,” she says.  She points to the new businesses and retail that have opened downtown and in the renovated North Dam Mill complex, currently home to around 70 commercial tenants and 81 residential apartments.  ”We really love the mixed-use aspect” of the project, says Chuck Morgan, Director of Economic and Community Development at Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission (SMRPC).  ”It is creating jobs, generating a tax base, and providing customers for downtown businesses,” he says.  SMRPC worked closely with Doug Sanford of the North Dam LLC to provide funding for assessment and remediation, utilizing EPA Brownfields Assessments grants and Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) loans.

The community-based learning and participation in the master planning process has been a transformative experience for many students. (Photo credit: Orton Family Foundation)

Perhaps some of the biggest changes in Biddeford are the intangible ones, felt in the hearts of residents, particularly the youth.  “Before there was so much low morale,” says Poupore. “The storytelling did so much to rekindle pride.”  The community-based learning and participation in the master planning process has been a transformative experience for many students who have a new appreciation for Biddeford and its history.  No longer is Biddeford a place that young people are embarrassed to call home.  Holli Andrews notes that the student conversation has shifted from “I can’t wait to leave” to “I can’t wait to come back after college and see what’s new and different.”

Tom Laverriere is one of those students deeply impacted by his active participation in the community.  “[Biddeford’s] becoming a better place to live all the time…I want to check in regularly, even stay involved if I can,” he says.  “Getting involved in the community has given me an incredible sense of pride.  Part of the reason I want to visit is so I can look back and say, ‘I helped do this.  This is where I grew up, and it’s awesome.’  Because it is – and I helped make it that way.”

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The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under an award with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government.

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Performance Metrics Matter, a publication of the National Association of Development Organizations prepared by the ViTAL Economy Alliance, explains how performance metrics can be used to create a more effective CEDS for a regional economy.

A Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is more than a mandatory report for opening doors to federal funding, especially through the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). It should be an opportunity to formulate effective strategies that transform a region’s economy by creating or retaining wealth and increasing prosperity.

This white paper discusses how performance metrics can be used to create a more effective CEDS for a regional economy. It includes real-life examples of how performance metrics have been used by various Economic Development Districts (EDDs) and other regions assisted by ViTAL Economy to address unique conditions and transform their region’s economic performance. It also demonstrates how performance metrics are the first critical step in creating meaningful strategies in a CEDS and how they can improve an economic region’s ability to meet the new NADO’s Seven Principles of CEDS Standards of Excellence.

Click here to download the report (PDF)

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This report from the  NADO Research Foundation, written with the support of the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), explores how the 23 southernmost counties in Illinois collaborated to increase broadband Internet access to support economic development.

At the start of 2006, the broadband take rate for Southern Illinois – the number of households with access to broadband that buy it – was only 12 percent. Today, thanks in large part to the work of Connect SI (a not-for-profit charitable organization that supports a collaborative, regional economic strategy for the southern 20 counties of Illinois), broadband availability is much greater and the take rate is more than 54 percent.  The take rate for rural communities nationally is 66 percent.  Other economic development projects – in particular, the expansion of online health care education and services – have followed.

To meet its goals, Connect SI has embarked on community initiatives in broadband connectivity, health care, youth leadership, agriculture, and energy.  And it is providing the four regional planning and development commissions in its area with online tools to access and sort economic and demographic data.

Click here to download the report (PDF)

In an era of tightening government budgets, regional planning and development organizations need to think creatively about developing and funding initiatives that improve residents’ quality of life. Through partnerships with community foundations, both regional development organizations and foundations can leverage community and external funds, access knowledge and skills beyond their own areas of expertise, broaden their networks, and align work programs to best meet community needs.

This report explores the strategies and rewards behind eight partnerships. The East Central Iowa Council of Governments worked with a community foundation to recapitalize a small business assistance revolving loan fund, and the organizations have continued to collaborate on regional initiatives.  Similarly, the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission began an active partnership with the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama through a successful public health program. Central Minnesota’s Region Five Development Commission has worked with several community foundations, after establishing a strong partnership with the Initiative Foundation. Virginia’s New River Valley Planning District Commission has helped the Community Foundation of the New River Valley discover community needs, while the Foundation has helped NRVPDC engage community members. In Texas and North Carolina, foundations and regional development organizations worked together on projects to provide wildfire relief and equip a business incubator, respectively. Oregon’s Mid-Columbia Economic Development District has been working with the Meyer Memorial Trust to develop a digital tool to connect foundations with community priorities, while the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance operates a resource center to facilitate partnerships. These stories demonstrate how foundations and regional development organizations can help each other leverage resources, expand their toolkits, broaden their networks, and align their work programs.

To read the full report, click here (PDF).

Released April 2008, 8 pages

Click here to view GIS Brings Economic Vitality to Appalachian Communities (PDF).

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Released August 2009, 163 pages

Click here to view Regional Council Self-Assessment and Resource Toolkit (PDF).

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Through our research we have developed a series of maps illustrating what percentage of the country is represented by RDOs, what are primary program offerings of these organizations and in what capacity they serve our nation’s businesses, communities and local governments.

To learn more about the importance of regional development organizations and their function, click here.

Released November 2007, 6 pages

Click here to view Green Light to Green Building: Regional Development Organizations are LEEDing the Way (PDF).

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