Economic Development

Welcome to the Town of Rumford Economic Development Department!

The Economic Development Department assists interested parties in creating and improving economic opportunities in Rumford through a broad series of assistance services.

We can support projects of any size from large industrial investments to small business startups through a variety of federal, state and local resources.

Some examples of support provided include the following:

• Large Businesses (Existing & New)
  • Relocation assistance, site identification and planning to include coordination with Code Enforcement for life safety code and site use considerations
  • Support for and coordination with federal and state entities to determine eligibility for and receipt of relocation and job creation incentives
  • Labor market area analysis to include research of available workforce and identification of obscure or otherwise unknown workforce assets
  • Community outreach and advocacy on behalf of projects determined to be in the public interest
  • Coordination and support of research and development grants for innovative technology utilization

• Small to Mid-Size Businesses (Existing & New)
  • Local and/or regional businesses startup loans and financing
  • Energy efficiency improvement research and support for energy efficiency improvement projects
  • Businesses startup support to include assistance with planning leased space improvements, market considerations and landlord-tenant negotiation assistance
  • Business opportunity identification to include suggested business opportunities based on known public needs

The Economic Development Department also provides a wide array of policy support to other Town and Regional government entities to assist with consideration of economic opportunity considerations in public policy. Some examples of policy support include research related to demographic trends, to include employment statistics (employment by occupation, gender and/or workforce participation rates), community demographics (age of community members, expected future needs, current community demographic trends), comparative analysis (understanding our community compared to other similar communities), GIS support (data research, resource identification, mapping).

The Economic Development Department also undertakes new initiatives on behalf of the community through the identification and consideration of reuse of existing community assets and resources that can be leveraged to improve economic opportunity.

We have an extensive network of contacts throughout the government and business communities locally and statewide that we are happy to leverage on behalf of your investment in the community.

For more information please feel free to email the Economic Development Director, George O’Keefe, Jr. anytime at gokeefe@rumfordme.org or by cell phone at (207) 441-4843. The office extension is 243 or just dial 0 when calling the Town Offices at (207) 364-4576.