Town of Rumford community and economic development planning for agriculture

Town of Rumford community and economic development planning for agriculture

Summary

The effects of a community's lack of attention to agricultural economic development is not only felt by farmers and their families but by the local citizens as well. Farmers can only adapt and innovate so much to maintain an economically viable living. Without help from the community, they will continue to experience pressures that may eventually drive them out of business. And if a majority of consumers feel that buying local food helps the economy, then losing more farms will not provide those opportunities. There is a disconnect between what citizens act upon for economic development in the community and what is needed to support a viable agriculture sector. Until communities begin to address agricultural economic development, farmers will continue to struggle for economic parity with other businesses in the community.

Work up to now to help communities more actively support agriculture through economic development projects has not yielded results because of competing policies, regulations, and an overall lack of integration into a town’s community and economic development plans. What we have learned is that until a community takes seriously the need for agricultural economic development planning and follow-through, individual projects to add value or otherwise support farms will have limited success.

The purpose of the project is to draft a community and economic development plan focused on agriculture. That plan will incorporate strategies to expand agriculture businesses and attract new ones, build the necessary processing and value-added infrastructure necessary to support local farms, provide support services, and address tax and zoning issues favorable to agriculture development.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The major objective of the project is to assist the communities of Andover, Byron, Canton, Carthage, Dixfield, Hanover, Mexico, Peru, Roxbury, and Rumford to write an economic development plan for agriculture viability in the region. Together, these ten communities constitute the River Valley Region.

One objective is to get each town to incorporate the plan into their comprehensive plan or other economic planning process and actively implement the plan. The River Valley Growth Council, River Valley Chamber of Commerce, and the Threshold To Maine RC&D Area are active partners in the process. Another objective of the project is to establish the River Valley Agriculture Commission. This group, made up of local representatives of the partner organizations and farmers, will help guide the communities on agriculture issues and help with the implementation of the economic development plan. As part of their work, the Agriculture Commission will focus on the following strategies:

Agriculture development: business planning, direct marketing, business attraction.

Infrastructure: Business development, facilities (value added), utilities (energy), riverfront development.

Town policies and regulations: Zoning, tax incentives, ordinances.

Accomplishments/Milestones

Milestones for the project included:

October 2006 – Formation of Agriculture Commission by town

February 2007 – Orientation and charge provided to Commission, staffing assigned

April 2007 – Inventory of agriculture and demographic/economic analysis complete

May 2007 – Infrastructure inventory and assessment complete

August 2007 – Draft goals, objectives, and strategies completed

October 2007 – Public outreach and comment completed

December 2007 – Final draft of economic development plan completed and available for public comment.

January 2008 – Endorsement of plan by towns.

The River Valley Agriculture Commission meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. The following accomplishments occurred in 2007.

1. Re-established the River Valley Farmers Market (RVFM)

o Held public meetings to recruit new vendors to the market to improve selection, availability and sustainability (mailed invite to all area farmers in a 40-mile radius)

o Commission worked on updating RVFM bylaws and guidelines

o new location for better exposure and easy in/out access, Rt. 2, Mexico

o new day and time to accommodate recommendations of the general public

o promotion of RVFM – press releases to all area newspapers, radio and TV, displayed on Growth Council website, better signage, banners, posters, local message boards around towns, educational/informational handouts available at Market, distributed through River Valley Chamber membership, brochures placed around town (businesses and email distribution) – opening day (May 25th) Ribbon Cutting which got some really good press with front page article, well attended

o Market has been going very well and will run until Oct. 12th

2. Public awareness/educational component

o Commission began to bring in other partners (River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, River Valley Chamber of Commerce, School Nutrition Directors, Mexico Town Manager and newly-hired Rumford and Dixfield Town Managers)

o Discussions on collaborating with the schools for youth education, community gardens, coop farming, networking groups, etc.

o Outreach in the community by using fact sheets, ag-related materials, and constant display of the work of the Commission by publicizing locally

o Push for local farms, local foods

o Integrate farming with schools and Healthy Communities for nutrition goals

o 10-town Selectmen support

o Incorporate into Growth Council’s strategic plan

o Project manager made a presentation to the Growth Council board of directors regarding the work of the Commission and the agricultural outlook for Maine and the possible economic impact

o Vendors participating in other area events (Mexico Community Fundraising Day’s, Oktoberfest, etc.)

o Farming internships

o Maine Harvest Day schools on Sept. 26th

o Women, Work and Community held business planning workshops geared for farmers

o An entrepreneur workshop was held in August for the general public

3. Infrastructure

o Shared-use kitchen concept – This is a spinoff supported by the Commission; however, the acting director of the Growth Council will spearhead the idea that surfaced before the Commission was formed. The project manager will lend his expertise, since he has worked with groups doing this in Maine already.

In June, two public meetings were held to determine the interest in a shared commercial kitchen in the community. We were very pleased with the turnout (25 people attended). There is enough interest to at least explore the concept. This could also mean more sales for local farmers.

The general consensus from the public was confusion over licensing requirements and guidelines for commercially producing their product. A follow-up pubic meeting was held with representatives from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide a walk-through process of licensing requirements and guidelines for specific goods. Discussions are taking place with the school departments and Region 9 School of Applied Technology about perhaps offering a culinary arts program in conjunction with the shared-use kitchen. Next steps are offering a Serve Safe Food Handling course and preliminary design of the kitchen. The Growth Council would then pursue funding for a feasibility study.

o Value added-niche markets and cooperatives

o Equipment/custom harvesting/sharing

o Warehousing/cold storage and distribution

o Bringing supply/demand together

o Slaughter facility

4. Agriculture/economic development plan

Over the last several months, the Commission has began to build the plan and research and data collection has become intense. An inventory of available resources is included, along with information on River Valley land use and future outlook. Statistics of the surrounding area are included to identify community issues with nutrition, poverty levels, and unhealthy lifestyles. Strategies for agriculture and community support were identified. The plan also discusses farming and consumer issues as well as goals the Commission would like to reach. The Commission is working through realistic and viable priorities. The plan is in the final stages and ultimately will be adopted by the Town of Rumford.

The Commission has organized a breakfast for town officials of all the ten towns for October 10, 2007. Invitations were sent to all selectmen, town managers, River Valley Chamber, Healthy Communities, area representatives, local newspapers, school superintendents, and nutrition directors, etc. Project manager Mark Hews made a presentation on the economic outlook for agriculture and the work of the Commission. Handouts of the draft of the economic development plan were provided to all the towns present. The River Valley Growth Council also received a copy of the plan. Other handouts and information included the Agriculture Commission fact sheet and information from the farmers' market.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Surveys for both customers and farmers for the agricultural project were completed. Results were compiled. The Commission was formed by the Town of Rumford in conjunction with the Growth Council. A group in the Dixfield area would like to partner and assist however they can. A couple will be part of the Commission.

There was not much of a response from farmers in the area. Most contacted were either not interested or only produced hay. Others felt they wouldn’t be able to spare time for a committee. A few of the farmers recognize in their surveys that the market needs to be held on a weekend or offer longer hours during the week. Some farmers are in need of financial assistance. Also mentioned from the farmers was a need for better market advertising and the perception that the market was too much work for the little or no profit. One comment from a farmer indicates that people will buy whatever is cheaper or a better selection rather than supporting the local farmers.

The general public listed many things that could improve the farmers' market. A lot of comments resulted in better advertising and displaying hours and days better. Some did not even know when the farmers were there. Most that have discovered the market have done so by passing it on the road. The majority (not by much) have shopped the market, and word-of-mouth brought the most exposure for the market. The availability of more local products and convenient days hit high numbers. Most citizens work during the day and wish to visit the market after 5 p.m.; it is between "extremely important" and "very important" that the products are of high quality.

Other very-important categories were variety, local products, and that many farmers are represented. Different activities at the market were not identified as being important at all. Fresh seasonal produce, location, and products being well promoted scored very important as well.

The River Valley Agriculture Commission has met twice a month throughout the year. As a result the awareness of agriculture issues in the region has grown and people are much better informed about the opportunity to expand agriculture and provide more local foods. An example of this was at a recent River Valley Growth Council meeting where members commented that they have heard and seen a lot about the Agriculture Commission and agriculture in general. The Agriculture Commission has coordinated the successful re-establishment of the River Valleys Farmers' Market, created stronger links between local schools and local farmers, and helped the towns identify the gaps in their current comprehensive plans as it relates to agriculture. The Agriculture Commission has also helped the River Valley Growth Council investigate the establishment of a commercial incubator kitchen in Rumford with a number of meetings held with potential users and partners.

The largest impact has been the development of the River Valley Economic Development Plan for Agriculture. The document lays out the future of agriculture in the River Valley region and how the Agriculture Commission and area towns can achieve that future. In its final draft, the plan should be endorsed by the 10 towns by January. Once endorsed, the plan will be implemented by the Agriculture Commission with support from the towns, River Valley Chamber of Commerce, River Valley Growth Council, and Threshold To Maine RC&D Area.