Coastal Enterprises Inc., a Wiscasset-based community development nonprofit, is undertaking a two-year Aging Demographic and Economic Development initiative (ADED). The plan, according to a proposal circulated at the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission’s (LCRPC) regular meeting Dec. 14, seeks to gather and analyze information that will help the county prepare its economy for an aging population.
Lincoln County is the focus of this study because of the county’s unique demographics. It is currently the oldest county in Maine, with just over 21 percent of its population over the age of 65. This is estimated to rise to 27 percent by 2020. The county’s median age, 48.7, is tied for the highest in the country.
While not directly involved in the study, the LCRPC will serve as a public forum to discuss some of the study’s findings, according to LCRPC Director of Economic and Community Development Mary Ellen Barnes.
CEI’s initiative will analyze various sectors in the county economy, such as economic development and business groups, health care providers, food security programs, and long-term care providers. Information gathered will be used to develop a “sector strategy” for investing in Lincoln County’s growing aging, health care, and disability sectors.
According to CEI’s proposal, the initiative would ultimately provide financing and technical assistance to businesses in these areas and help with policy issues should they arise.
CEI undertook a similar strategy for the childcare industry in Southern, Midcoast, and Central Maine. The group claims to have invested $7.5 million in the sector that translated into an additional $12.8 million in business loans to childcare providers.
The first year of the initiative will see CEI work with the LCRPC and interested parties. According to the proposal, CEI and stakeholders will “determine what actions and investments are needed to provide new services, housing and/or facilities, as well as job opportunities for County residents.”
In the second year of the initiative, CEI will develop a plan with one to two aging-focused economic development strategies.
According to the proposal, ADED’s ultimate goal will be to provide better services for Lincoln County’s aging population while simultaneously providing jobs for the young and old.
Barnes, who contributed to the proposal, said the initiative would identify investment opportunities that would sustain and attract younger families.
Though Maine has a steadily aging population, no planning across multiple economic sectors has been done to prepare, according to CEI’s ADED proposal.
“Without such planning, it is not possible to understand fully the potential effects of this demographic and economic situation,” the proposal states.
If the project is successful, it could serve as a model for the state. Information gathered from ADED could potentially prepare Maine to “harness the opportunities” of an aging population.
ADED is funded by the Augusta-based Bingham Program. Work will begin in early 2012.
