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July 25, 2005

A visit from the envoy | Former CMP CEO David Flanagan is the governor's representative Washington County

By Richard Smart
David Flanagan has worked in state government off and on since 1975, and in all that time he says he's never seen anyone else assigned a job like the one Gov. John Baldacci has given him. In late June, Flanagan was named Baldacci's economic development envoy to Washington County, responsible for developing possible solutions for an area that has been haunted by economic hardship.

Baldacci created the position shortly after halting the progress of a proposed racino in Washington County, which many residents had come to view as a partial solution to their economic problems. (The Passamaquoddy tribe is still pursuing the project, and hopes to force a 2006 referendum on the subject.) While it'd be easy to see why Baldacci's envoy might not be welcome in Washington County these days, Flanagan said he was well received during his first official trip to the region at the end of last month. Several business owners expressed their dissatisfaction with Baldacci during those first few meetings, but Flanagan said he intends to stay apolitical; for that reason, he's decided to resign from the board of directors of CasinosNo. "People down there want to do what they can to improve their situation, and I think they're willing to work with any reasonable person with the same objective," he said.

Flanagan, 58, plans to work with business owners, community members and a special task force to create a strategy for developing economic growth in the region. Baldacci has also asked him to recommend ways to coordinate state agencies' efforts to improve the local economy.

It's a position for which he may be uniquely well suited; Flanagan's resume includes a stint as Maine's assistant attorney general, as well as several other positions in the public sector and seven years as CEO of Central Maine Power. "I'm going to try to go in there with my technical expertise in both how state government can work and how business investments get made," he said, "and try to come up with some recommendations based on that experience."

Because it's early in the process, Flanagan didn't want to say much about his development ideas for the region, but he said he views the county's natural beauty and its proximity to other tourist locations such as Acadia National Park and Canada as some of its greatest strengths. "Any strategy has got to pay attention to the tourism potential in that county," he said.

Flanagan attributes the region's economic woes to the decimation of manufacturing in the area, a lack of skilled workers and a small population base for supporting infrastructure improvements such as roads and marinas. In addition, he said, Washington County only gets about 1.5% of the tourist visits to Maine; by way of comparison, Hancock County next door gets about 24%. And, he said, there isn't much in the way of marketing or tourism advocacy that would make people travel beyond Bar Harbor.

Flanagan's final report to the governor is due Jan. 1, but he hopes to have his review of the state agencies and an overall strategy finished by November in order to give the Legislature an opportunity to take action during its second session. He's uncertain what he'll do once his job is completed, but the former gubernatorial candidate said he has no interest in returning to a more prominent political position.

In the end, Flanagan said, one of his strongest assets for his current task is his optimism. "I know that there's a widening feeling that Washington County doesn't have a great future, but I'm inclined to disagree with that," he said. "There's going to be a lot of opportunity there, and I think it's going to be an exciting place to be involved with over the next few years."

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