Growsmart Maine

2)planning for agriculture in october 2022, growsmart maine entered into a multi-year "planning for ag" partnership with the american farmland trust in response to the alarming rate of farmland loss in maine and across america to "low-density residential development- or sprawl. Through the partnership, growsmart maine helps communities address the housing crisis, without undoing the good work to address the climate crisis, and without creating the next crisis of access to farmland and food. The partnership has provided a framework to broaden our partnerships, expand our portfolio of community programs, and strengthen our capacity by hiring a part-time professional planner. Three areas of work fall under "planning for ag:" a.the community resilience partnership growsmart maine is a service provider for the community resilience partnership. The program was established by the governor's office for policy innovation and the future as a part of the implementation of maine won't wait maine's four-year climate action plan. Growsmart maine supports municipalities to enroll in the program and apply for funding through the community action grant. We secured grants to help enroll four rural towns in central maine - mount vernon, rome, vienna, and wayne - facilitating community workshops and the identification of local challenges and priority actions. B.the housing opportunity program the housing opportunity program was established within maine's department of economic & community development to encourage and support the development of additional housing units in the state. Growsmart maine received a grant through the program and has been working with the town of bowdoinham to update its comprehensive plan, with a focus on housing, agriculture, and future land use. Growsmart maine provided technical assistance to revise land use ordinances. While the proposed ordinance changes did not pass at this stage, the updated comprehensive plan was adopted by the town meeting. We continue to provide technical assistance with the implementation of the plan. In addition, a series of statewide educational materials were developed as a part of the housing opportunity program. This includes webinars on accessory dwelling units; short term rentals; farming and housing; and the publishing of several community guides. C.building community strength with funding from usda rural development and the american farmland trust, the three-year program "building community strength" was launched at the growsmart maine summit in october 2023. The program is a response to the interlinked challenges facing rural communities across maine. Trainees from ten participating municipalities tackle issues such as climate resilience, economic development, farm viability and farmland protection, affordable housing, and equitable and inclusive community development. The program also trains participants to research and apply for state, federal, and private funding. In april 2024, the first cohort convened for a multi-day workshop in bangor. Fourteen town managers, select board members, and economic development directors from participating towns gathered to network and learn from each other. They met with growsmart maine staff and other partners (including sunrise county economic council, eastern maine development cooperation, north star planning, and the musson group) to participate in a series of sessions focused on community planning. At the workshop, the representatives of each community also met with state and federal officials through a "speed-dating" session, giving the community leaders the opportunity to outline their priorities in one-on-one conversations. While the program offers technical assistance, funding, and training, a key component is the development of networks among towns. "i had conversations with the different community leaders on a range of topics," said tim st. Peter of presque isle. "if i can learn from someone else what to watch for and avoid, or what process worked for them and be able to apply it to our community, i think that is a success." the towns enrolled in the building community strength program are situated across the state: calais, danforth, enfield, houlton, machias, mexico, presque isle, roque bluffs, skowhegan, and van buren.

3) kennebec broadband partnership the second year of the kennebec broadband partnership began in december 2023. We continued our work from year 1 and added new programs to help bridge the digital divide in kennebec county. The kbp, funded by the maine connectivity authority, the state entity responsible for bringing broadband infrastructure to all areas of maine, is dedicated to helping people in kennebec county access broadband and digital literacy skills. In fy 2024 growsmart maine convened a digital equity working group to guide the kennebec broadband partnership. The group is composed of individuals and organizations representing the covered populations the program seeks to help. With their guidance during the digital equity planning process, the committee met weekly for 7 weeks to coordinate outreach. We completed 47 surveys, 46 interviews, 1 community meeting with 15 attendees, collaborated with 9 organizations, and submitted a digital equity plan for kennebec county. The kbp implemented and provided funding for four pilot projects focusing on digital equity. The projects involved one-on-one tech help at dr. Shaw memorial library in mt. Vernon; an onsite acp enrollment day at bridging the gap in augusta; a tech help and acp enrollment program with literacy volunteers of kennebec; and helped one older adult living in a hud senior apartment in hallowell to obtain and learn how to use a desktop computer. These pilot projects helped us to understand the needs of people in the covered population and how they wanted to receive training and services for digital literacy. Also, during this time, concerted outreach was conducted with libraries, adult education programs, multiple nonprofits, municipalities, and other service organizations to inform them about the acp and provide information about the availability of low-cost devices and digital literacy classes. Much of the outreach, education, and tabling events conducted in the second half of 2023 were related to the acp and how to enroll. By the end of 2023, gsm held in-person visits and meetings with all 18 libraries in kennebec county. Beginning the second year of the kennebec broadband partnership, the program funded a 20-hour-per-week digital navigator for kennebec county hired by ndec and paid for out of gsm's contract with the maine connectivity authority. The kbp program director coordinates with the digital navigator to schedule presentations, outreach, and tabling events, make introductions, and coordinate tech and computer help at 15 ndec onsite partner locations throughout the county. In addition, one-on-one tech help is offered at almost one-third of the libraries in the county with support from the kbp. The kbp also instituted a stipend program to fund digital equity programs in kennebec county.