The county's $75,000 contribution for economic development purposes helped the council draw more than $1.6 million in federal and state grants into the local coffers, Piscataquis County commissioners learned Tuesday.

"My calculation is that's a 21-1 ratio of return on our investment," Commissioner Tom Lizotte remarked Tuesday. He praised the council's work and their initiatives. "I don't know of any legal way to get that high of a return in the financial market," he noted.

"We appreciate all the work you do," Commissioner Fred Trask told Mark Scarano, the council's executive director, and several council members who attended Tuesday's meeting.

A progress report of the council's efforts was given by Scarano in anticipation of next year's contribution from the county. The council has offered three options for county funding in 2006, with an increase in the options ranging from $10,000 to $40,000.

Option I would include $30,000 for a part-time tourism development specialist, $5,000 to bridge a gap between the council's revenues and expenses, $5,000 for general marketing, and the annual $75,000 contribution, representing a total of $115,000. A second option would fund the same but reduce to $15,000 the amount for the specialist, for a total appropriation of $100,000. The last option would be to eliminate the specialist but fund the three other accounts for a total of $85,000.

In an effort to show that the county's money has been spent wisely, Scarano noted on Tuesday the council's most recent successes and its growth over the years.

Since the council's inception in 1998, the economic development council has written and collected more than $2.3 million in grants for local economic development efforts. Its successes include the attraction of JSI to Milo and Creative Apparel to Dover-Foxcroft; providing assistance in the creation of the Greenville Business Incubator; securing grants for downtown revitalization in Dover-Foxcroft and the Eastern Piscataquis Industrial Park, or EPIP; creating a countywide economic development plan; and branching out to form the Maine Highlands Guild.

In 2005, the council organized a joint marketing effort among the three industrial parks in the county; co-chaired a coalition to preserve and grow Northern Maine; organized congressional visits to the county; and became members of a community transition team to help displaced workers, among a lengthy list of other accomplishments.

Scarano said the council would focus its efforts in 2006 on community development and tourism development, in addition to business development and cultural heritage work.
"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Thursday, October 20, 2005 edition of the Bangor Daily NEWS and is used here with permission."