The City of Bangor’s draft Economic Development Strategic Plan (Jan. 2022) suggests branding Bangor as “a hub of technology, commercialization of research, and entrepreneurship” and the UpStart Maine Coalition of Bangor Region programs and facilities would agree.
The City of Bangor’s draft Economic Development Strategic Plan (Jan. 2022) suggests branding Bangor as “a hub of technology, commercialization of research, and entrepreneurship.” The draft Plan, submitted to the City earlier this month, calls this narrative “not only compelling but authentic” based on a track record of spinning off successful businesses from university and other research “as well as an active, progressive and successful entrepreneurship ecosystem.”
This is exactly the story the UpStart Maine coalition (www.upstartmaine.org) exists to tell. The coalition of Bangor Region programs and facilities, along with UMaine’s R&D institutes and commercialization programs, are at the core of this “progressive and successful entrepreneurship ecosystem.” The coalition includes the Bangor Innovation Center, which the Plan notes has helped incubate more than 50 companies over the last 22 years.
The Plan also supports another pending piece of the ecosystem: a Central Kitchen the City envisions for its former military property on Cleveland Street. It calls the planned kitchen “an excellent example of an initiative that is strategically important, well-conceived, planned, and in process of being funded.” We agree!
We’ll be following the City’s work on finalizing the Strategic Plan, posting updates here, and watching to see how UpStart Maine can help implement it.