Lack
of state designation puzzles South Portland officials
The bad news came last week in an announcement by the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Of the 19 applicants to one of Gov. Paul LePage’s new economic development programs, only nine made the cut. South Portland was not among them.
“I was like, what’s up with that?” said Mayor Patti Smith. “I’m not really sure why we didn’t get it. I just say it’s always disappointing when you don’t get something you’re hoping for.”
“I have a hard job believing that we send $800 million-900 million in tax revenue up to the turnpike every year, get $6 million back, and we’re not business friendly,” said City Manager Jim Gailey.
According to Gailey, “the jury is still out” on whether South Portland will make a second run at what was seen largely as a public relations tool, despite the governor’s stated hope that the designation could help spur economic development. The nine successful communities will be awarded “Open for business” signs and be featured on a state website.
Meanwhile, the issue has become a political football booted around the region. Much has been made of the fact that, of the 19 applicants for the “business-friendly” label, no town or city from Cumberland County made the cut.
“I don’t have a comment, but I do have a suggestion for some investigative reporting,” said Councilor Tom Coward, now a Democratic Party candidate for Cumberland County commissioner. “Run an analysis on the towns that were approved and not approved against which supported LePage in the last election.”
LePage’s spokeswoman, Adrienne Bennett, did not return a request for comment by press time.
Doug Ray, spokesman for the Department of Economic and Community Development, said, “It was not a competition.” Ray also said denial of certification is not meant as a punishment, or a way to pit municipalities against each other.
“It’s not to slap a community on the wrist,” he said. “Some have reached out to us to follow up on the announcement and that’s what we want – to be able to say, OK, here’s what we need to do to clear this hurdle.”
The certification process was largely subjective, said Ray, with no set measure for what review score earned praise, and no limit on the number of qualifying communities.
Each application was reviewed and scored individually by members of a seven-person committee. Those scores – along with yes, no, or maybe recommendations for certification – were then used “as a starting” point, said Ray, for “a consensus decision.” That post-scoring debate may explain why Sanford, with a total score of 569, won certification, while South Portland, at 573, did not.
The score sheets were divided into four sections, worth a total of 100 points, including “customer service/product/capacity” (worth 30 points), “business/local involvement and collaboration” (30 points), “public hearing process” (15 points) and “licensing and permitting” (25 points).
South Portland’s scores ranged from a high of 92, given by review committee member Amy Downing of Maine State Chamber of Commerce, to a low of 69, in the opinion of George Gervais, commissioner of community and economic development. Of the seven reviewers, only Gervais and John Butera, senior policy adviser in the Office of the Governor (who gave the city a 74), recommended against certification for South Portland.
Downing made no recommendation on certification, while the remaining committee members said South Portland deserved recognition as a business-friendly community. They included DECD Program Manager Andrea Smith, Peter DelGreco of Maine & Company, Christopher Steele of CWS Consulting Group and Charles Graceffa of the Pierce Atwood law firm.
According to Ray, 10 local businesses recommended by the Department of Labor were sent a survey sheet, which also factored into the review team’s recommendation. However, only one business, which Ray would not name, returned the three-question form. On a scale of outstanding-satisfactory-needs improvement, that business ranked South Portland as satisfactory, and checked that it would consider the city to be business friendly.
Among critiques made by the reviewers, four stand out. These included belief that South Portland has a "complex permitting process with vague timelines," and that, "efforts to clarify the process and decision-making timeline need to be undertaken." Also, the review team said South Portland should undertake "more involvement/collaboration with Chamber [of Commerce]," while "use of CDBG funds could be more aggressive/supportive of business."
"I feel those items are really unjustified," said Gailey. "We disagree with, if not all of the critiques, many of them. Our permitting is one of the quickest in the area, our involvement with the chamber is strong and our past attempts to use CDBG on businesses has been unsuccessful due to the businesses not wanting to live by the federal regulations for what is, in a sense, a small about of money.”
As an example of that point, Gailey said South Portland has been simply unable to convince local businesses to take advantage of a CDBG fund to improve building facades.
In an interview last week, Ray said the hobbling point for South Portland may have been the clarity of its application, rather than the quality, or speed of its permitting process.
“The review team was looking for specifics, they were wondering why it takes two to four weeks to get a lodging permit, for example,” he said.
However, when asked if the committee made any follow-up calls to gets its questions answered, Ray admitted it had not.
“That’s probably going to be part of the process going forward,” he said.
South Portland is eligible to re-apply for certification, but, Gailey said Monday, he is uncertain if it will bother.
“I thought it would be a good thing to participate in, but I’m a little disappointed in the angle that they headed in,” he said. “Staff is talking about whether or not to still pursue it.”
When Gov. LePage launched his “Certified Business Friendly Community” program March 6, he said he hoped it would encourage business development throughout Maine.
“The No. 1 focus of my administration is jobs,” he said at the time. "Today’s announcement is another step in the direction toward partnering with business, to ensure they have the tools they need to expand and create jobs in Maine.”
“What a business looks for is stability, reliability and consistency. That’s what we need to bring to the forefront,” added LePage. “Businesses face many obstacles. They do not need — nor should they be focusing on — dealing with local, state and federal government.”
The nine communities deemed to be “Business Friendly” will receive an award of certification presented by the governor, recognition on the DECD website and an "Open for Business” to display, in addition to the promise that they "will become a key part of Maine’s business attraction strategy."
Also, designees are to get bonus points on future Community Development Block Grant applications to the state – a benefit that would not have applied to South Portland because its CDBG money is funneled through Cumberland County directly from the feds as a fixed percentage of funding to Portland.
Business Friendly Communities are to be certified for two years. New certifications will be given on a quarterly basis, with previous designees eligible to reapply.
Of the 19 applications, those deemed to be “business-friendly” were Augusta (raw review score 631), Brewer (620), Biddeford (619), Bucksport (610), Guilford (602), Bath (600), Saco (598), Lincoln (589) and Sanford (569).
Those denied certification were Gorham (585), Pittsfield (584), Kennebunk (579), Cumberland (573), South Portland (573), Presque Isle (562), Falmouth (543), Rumford (528), Waterboro (485) and Houlton (457).
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