two d

2D - Building the Local Creative Economy  – Achieving Quality of Place Through Community Action

Moderator:

Richard Barringer, Research Professor, Muskie School of Public Service

Richard Barringer serves on the faculties of both public policy & management and community planning & development at the Muskie School, where he is principal investigator for the EPA’s New England Environmental Finance Center.  He served in the administrations of three Maine governors, as commissioner of conservation and director of state planning, and is the author of numerous books, reports, and landmark Maine laws in the areas of land use, education, the environment, energy, economic development, and tax policy. He recently collaborated with colleagues from each of the New England states on 20th Century Land Conservation in New England: A Heritage of Civic Engagement, Charles H. W. Foster, ed., Harvard Forest, Petersham MA, 2008. In 2007 he was awarded the prestigious Elmer B. Staats Public Service Career Award by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, given from time to time “to a faculty member whose career exemplifies a commitment to inspiring students to public service careers.” He is presently chair of the New England Governor’s  blue-ribbon Commission on Land Conservation.   He is the father of four grown sons and lives in Portland ME with his wife, Martha Freeman. 

Speakers:

Dee Schneidman, Research Manager, New England Foundation for the Arts, Culture Count

Dee Schneidman as NEFA’s Research Manager, oversees NEFA’s data collection, documentation, and cultural policy-based projects. These include the New England Creative Economy Report Series on both the public sector and the entire creative economy; CultureCount: New England’s Cultural Database; regional convenings, knowledge-sharing projects and economic impact studies.
Before coming to work at NEFA in January of 2006, Ms. Schneidman worked in a variety of non-profit and business settings, utilizing her background in the performing arts to develop trainings and workshops geared toward the personal growth and creative learning of both children and adults. She holds a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia where she focused on empirical research in the fields of creativity, human development and assessment.

Greg Mitchell, Economic Development Division Director, City of Portland

Greg Mitchell earned his Bachelors in Business Administration from Norwich University and Bachelors of Arts in economics from the Florida Atlantic University as well as completed course work for a Master of Arts in economics from the same university. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Economic Development Council of Maine and the Maine Real Estate and Development Association. Mitchell lives will his wife and two sons in Yarmouth. “I am looking forward to returning to public service which is my first love,” stated Mitchell. “I have a passion for what economic growth can mean to a community.” This year, the Economic Development Department was reorganized to report directly to the City Manager’s Office with the goal of enhancing the City’s integrated approach to economic development and to, ultimately, make the city’s efforts more strategic. With the City Manager’s backing, the Economic Development Director will have the stature to marshal the necessary resources to ensure a coordinated responsive approach. The reorganization will advance the city’s efforts to clearly communicate its economic development vision and engage elected officials and citizens alike in meaningful dialogue regarding the City’s economic development priorities.

Robin Zinchuk, Executive Director, Bethel Chamber of Commerce

Robin Zinchuk is currently Executive Director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, a position she has held since March of 1986 – slightly more than 23 years.  In her professional career she has brought the chamber from a tiny non-profit organization with a post office box and telephone answering machine - to one with more than 250 business members, 4 full time staff and a budget of more than $300,000.  Robin credits her success to a variety of supportive and visionary individuals who she has worked with over the years, some who have served on her boards of directors.  The chamber has provided the support for Robin to attend the Institute for Organizational Management, a four-year professional development program of the US Chamber of Commerce.  She graduated with a Certificate in Nonprofit Organization Management in January of 2004.  Robin is also a graduate of Leadership Maine, a one-year intensive offered by the Maine Development Foundation.

Robert Thompson, Executive Director, Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments

Robert Thompson has been the Director of AVCOG since 1992.  Prior to accepting this position he had held the position of Director of Development for the City of Lewiston for five years.  Prior positions included the Director of Development for the Town of Lisbon and various positions at AVCOG dating back to the mid 70’s dealing with water quality, land use and development issues.  He was educated at St. Lawrence University at the undergraduate level in chemistry and at the University of Vermont at the graduate level in Resource Economics.  In 1996 he was recognized by the SBA as Maine Advocate of the Year for Financial Services.  In 2001 he co-chaired the Maine Meetings and Conventions Committee which conducted a statewide feasibility and siting study for meeting and convention facilities, and 1996 he chaired the Public Advisory Committee for the Maine Turnpike Authority Alternatives Study, which was a key element leading to the approval of the Widening Project.  He is a past president of the Maine Association of Planners; Economic Development Council of Maine; Maine Rural Development Council and past Chair of the Board of Androscoggin Home Health Services.

Jim Cohen, Former Mayor of Portland, ME

Jim Cohen is a former City Councilor and Mayor of Portland, retiring at the end of 2008.  This June, Jim was the top vote-getter in his successful election to the Portland Charter Commission, of which he is vice-chair.  In September, Jim was honored to receive the Neal W. Allen Award for Leadership in the Public Sector from the Portland Regional Chamber. As Mayor, Mr. Cohen was actively involved in helping to sustain and grow the creative economy, an effort that continues through today.  Then-Mayor Cohen held his inaugural celebration at the Maine College of Art, and later in his term he hosted a Creative Economy Summit in June of 2006 where over 200 people attended.  Following the Summit, Mr. Cohen appointed and chaired a 17-member Creative Economy Steering Committee which recommended formation of the Creative Portland Corporation, a separate arm of the City devoted to growing Portland’s innovation economy, strengthening its arts and cultural organizations, and sustaining Portland’s arts community.