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June 3, 2009

GrowSmart prez says closing a possibility

By Mindy Favreau

GrowSmart Maine, a nonprofit organization in Yarmouth that focuses on sustainable economic growth and quality of place, could be forced to shut down in the face of a funding shortfall.

The organization sent out an email yesterday to its 5,000 members and supporters that said it is in "the midst of a serious crisis that threatens the organization's future" and asked for donations to keep the organization running. "There is some danger that we could go out of business if people don't come forward," Alan Caron, GrowSmart's president and founder, told Mainebiz. "I don't want to overstate the danger, but it's a clear possibility." Though Caron is optimistic GrowSmart will receive $500,000 in funding from foundations later this summer and fall, the organization needs to raise $60,000 over the next few weeks to keep it operational until that funding becomes available. The economic climate has forced individual donors and businesses to cut back on their donations, forcing the organization to cut its staff from 12 to six and scrap its green economy report, a follow-up to the Brookings Institution report released in 2006. A second follow-up report on streamlining government has been delayed, Caron said. The organization had received $280,000 in pledges from businesses to fund that report, but since December $105,000 in pledges has been revoked, Caron said.

GrowSmart has already received $7,000 in donations since yesterday's call for help, but Caron says the organization "still has a long ways to go."

Caron was a member of the Mainebiz 2007 Next List, and GrowSmart staff members write a column for Mainebiz called, "Charting the Course."

 

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