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, including coordination with Code Enforcement for code and permitting considerations
  • Connection to and/or support for available Federal or state grant opportunities for technology, environmental, job creation, and other considerations
  • 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

• Small to Mid-Size Businesses (Existing & New)
  • Local and/or regional business startup loans and financing
  • Energy efficiency improvement research and support for energy efficiency improvement projects
  • Startup support to include assistance with planning leased space improvements, market considerations, and landlord-tenant negotiation assistance
  • Business opportunity identification 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 advocate for economic development in rural western Maine. 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 contact Economic Development Director Jessie Perkins via email or by phone at 207-3(207) 364-4576 x 272.