Governor offers heritage museum, Boat School hope

Governor John Baldacci came to Washington County on April 22 in his role as cheerleader-in-chief for Maine business. He was the keynote speaker for the fourth annual Business Conference and Marketplace at Washington County Community College in Calais, part of a series of regional conferences on small business and entrepreneurship. And he had a bit of good news to deliver to area enterprises who had felt left out when his budget did not include funding that had been recommended for Washington County -- the Boat School at Eastport and the Downeast Heritage Museum at Calais.

He said that the museum, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy when expected state and federal grants for operating funds did not materialize, will be infused with $21,500 to ensure its reopening for the 2006 tourist season. The funds also buy time for Executive Director Jim Thompson and the board of directors to step up their campaign to win the substantial additional funding needed for the long term.

Also of local interest was the governor's lengthy treatise on the boatbuilding industry in Maine, historically and currently. While he said the location of the Boat School -- in Eastport where it has been since 1978, or at the WCCC campus in Calais as has been proposed -- was up to "Washington County leaders" to decide, he left no doubt of his strong support for Maine's boatbuilding industry and the training programs necessary to turn out skilled workers.

Baldacci noted that $15 million from the U.S. Department of Labor is earmarked "to help boatbuilding" over the next three years. He said, "We got this grant because all the regions, including Washington County," are critical to the industry, one that "has existed since before we were a state."

WCCC President William Cassidy, who introduced the governor, had a few newsworthy nuggets on initiatives tucked into his talk as well. He announced the formation of a "Calais connection" with the University of Maine at Machias whereby students who complete WCCC's two-year associate's program will have easier entry into the university's four-year bachelor's degree program. The agreement guarantees transfer students such perks as waiver of application fees, increased advisors' services, advance registration and access to a UMM office at WCCC. In addition, Cassidy hinted at another "connection," this one "international" in nature, still in the talking stages. The "good news," he said will be announced "in the near future."

In a brief interview after the governor's address, Cassidy was asked if he has a preference for the Boat School's location. He said he "strongly supports" keeping the program in Eastport, and added, "I don't know how some [local news]papers got the idea I want it moved to Calais." He says the program's future in Eastport depends on "adequate funding" provided by the legislature.

The two-day conference began on Friday, April 21, and featured 25 full- and half-day workshops on such topics as business planning, marketing, computers and the Internet, trends in the local economy, tourism, downtown revitalization and patent issues. The marketplace consisted of a cross-section of Washington County business owners who exhibited their wares and services and shared their entrepreneurial experience with visitors.
The planning team for the 2006 conference was led by Marianne Moore, owner of Curves of Calais. Also on the team was Dr. Louis V. Bassano, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, who was reviewing the written evaluations of workshop participants several days after the conference. "Judging from their response," he said, "the conference was very successful in helping people to start, expand or improve their businesses. Most of them were very pleased with the quality of the workshops and plan to implement what they learned."