MCOG Monthly Newsletter

Beginning April 16, MCOG will accept applications for a second round of New Business Recovery Grants under our Economic Recovery Implementation Hub program. The award process is expected to be competitive, as we have only $140,000 of grant funds remaining. New businesses and nonprofits may apply via an online portal, which will be posted to www.midcoastcog.com, and MCOG members will be notified prior to the portal going live. 

The US Small Business Administration has announced that low-interest disaster loans are available to businesses and residents in Maine following the announcement of a Presidential disaster declaration, due to severe storms and flooding that occurred January 9-13. 

The disaster declaration covers Cumberland, Hancock, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington, and York counties in Maine, which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. 

The SBA plans to open a Business Recovery Center at a Midcoast location TBD. Customer service representatives will assist business owners complete their disaster loan application, accept documents for existing applications, and provide updates on an application’s status. 

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is May 20, 2024. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Dec. 23, 2024. 

For information regarding SBA disaster assistance and to apply for an SBA loan, visit https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance 

The deadline for Northern Border Regional Commission Catalyst, Forest Economy Program and Timber for Transit pre-applications has been extended to March 22, 2024. Applications must be submitted using NBRC’s new Grants Management System, which will open March 11. Applicants are encouraged to begin developing pre-application materials outside NBRC’s online system. Guidance is available Here. 

Greater Portland Council of Governments is accepting a second round of Domestic Trade Grant applications until April 11. GPCOG is administering this program on behalf of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. Under this program, grants of $10,000 to $250,000, depending upon business size, are available to help develop new markets and increase domestic sales for targeted industries. For more information and to apply, please  

visit https://www.maine.gov/decd/domestic-trade/grants. 

MCOG held their quarterly meeting for planners in the Midcoast region on March 21 at the Damariscotta Town Office. Charlotte Nutt shared story maps and data regarding housing trends in the region as part of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy process. We want to thank Hilary Gove from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development for stopping by to participate in this discussion. 

Earlier in March, MCOG held their third Affordable Housing Working Group for the Five Rivers region (Harpswell, Brunswick, Topsham and Sagadahoc County). Based on the community data presented at the last meeting and framed by the intimate knowledge of their respective communities, the subcommittee worked to identify key elements of a Short Term Rental (STR) definitions and ordinance examples. The working group will develop a framework within which neighboring communities will coordinate their approach to STRs to avoid setting up competitive inconsistencies. 

Most recently, MCOG convened their second Affordable Housing Working Group in Knox County. The MCOG team presented data identified by the group in their prior meeting as important to understanding the development landscape across Knox County and within each community. Building from this background information, John Egan and Mark Primeau from the Genesis Fund joined the meeting to present on best practices/lessons learned from funding and developing affordable housing projects across the state and fielded questions from the group related to Knox specific projects and market dynamics. 

The Midcoast Economic Development District Committee (MCEDDC) has been meeting monthly to undergo a CEDS (Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy) process. As the EDA website states, “Simply put, a CEDS is a strategy-driven plan for regional economic development.” Right now, the MCEDD Committee has been going through data to gain an understanding of regional trends across demographics, housing, industry and workforce, public infrastructure, and natural resources/hazards within the MCOG region.  Last month, MCEDDC met to discuss the second data set on industry and workforce development, which prompted an inspiring discussion of the MCOG region's strengths, threats, and opportunities around workforce. You can see the datasets online here and see more about the CEDS process here.