A Brief Introductory Message to LA Maine

John Holden, President

Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council
January 13, 2015

As I step forward in my new role in the Cities of Lewiston and Auburn, allow me to share, briefly,
my message, my vision, my promise.
First, it is not about me. It is not about the Economic Growth Council. It is about LA. My intent
is to work in collaboration with all groups and both cities to help build a renewed Community
Vision, to craft a new Growth Strategy, and work together to implement that Strategy.
An LA Maine Vision
An LA Maine Strategy
We will be Positive; We Will Collaborate; We Will Innovate and Try New Things; and We Will
Celebrate Success and the Creation of Wealth
The Vision will be based on input from citizens, business, and property owners from across LA.
We will do this through a series of community meetings designed to engage as many corners of
the combined cities, business types, and the wide diversity of LAs citizens. The Vision will
provide guidance for the creation of a renewed Growth Strategy. The Strategy will be placebased and rooted in sound Community Economic Development principles.
We will listen. We will embrace theories on Innovation, Creativity, Logistics, Advanced
Manufacturing, Consumer Economics, Workforce Development, and others. We will do new
age economic development, while embracing and holding true to well-proved models.
We will begin to implement the Strategy as we undertake our planning. We shall practice and
implement tactics focused on growth sectors. The Growth Council, together with our
collaborators, will play a role to enable and encourage entrepreneurship. We will continue in
our history to uncover and assist in financing enterprise expansion and new development.
Most growth will come from within. We will work to expand existing business, small and large.
We will advise and assist in the development of our cultural and physical assets and enterprises.
Opportunity and growth will also come from outside our boundaries. We will seek out that
growth by working together to craft a message, based on our Vision and our Strategy. That
message will be rooted in our shared and valued community assets and LAs competitive
advantage. We will embrace and expand upon what we have to offer and share it with the
World.
My promise is that we shall do this together; the Growth Council together with our civic leaders
in each city; our partners and community organizations; our business leaders; our workers;
and our residents. At the end of the day development projects are local. But for our purposes,
for our Strategy, LA is one market. Together, we will envision, craft, and implement a Growth
Strategy for the betterment of all of LA.