report to the community

It was just about two years ago that Midcoast Magnet held it's first forum in Rockport. Boy were we surprised at how many people showed up. The place was packed with people who had heard that there was going to be talk about how to "fire up our economy" and encourage our region's "creative economy."

Word had spread, in part, because people had been passing around the link to our creative class survey. We asked people about attributes of the Midcoast and how they rated. For example, we asked people to rate both how important higher education accessibility was to them and how successful the Midcoast was in delivering higher ed. For the answers to that others, check out our Report to the Community.

The Report gives results from the survey, but also shows what we learned when we looked deeper into those results, through focus groups and working groups who began to consider big ideas that could have real lasting impact on our new economy. The Report is also carefully designed to be an easy read. The last thing anybody needs is a big report that sits on a shelf gathering dust. This Report is only a means to an end. And now, at the end of 2006, new programs are underway (see Build Green Maine, Maine Coast Interns) and bigger and better ideas are on their way for 2007. Just you wait!