Tag: Deer Isle

Talk of the Towns 1/11/19

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Engineer: Amy Browne

Community concerns and opportunities: Looking back and looking forward—the view from Deer Isle, Stockton Springs and Mount Desert

Key Discussion Points:
Thumbnail sketches of geography, population and demographics
economic base, history of Deer Isle, Stockton Springs, Mount Desert
Brief overviews of town Governance structures:
Selectboard, town meeting, key committees
Opportunities and challenges from the past year… achievements?
Opportunities and challenges for the year ahead
Comparison of
Tax base (valuation), budget and tax rate
Portion of budget for education
How do you handle capital costs?
How is your volunteer base holding up (town committees, public safety, etc.)
Examples of town to town and town to non-governmental partnerships and collaboration
What is most satisfying about your work as town manager?
What makes your town a good place to live?

Guests:
Jim Fisher, Town Manager, Deer Isle
Courtney O’Donnell, Town Manager, Stockton Springs
Durlin Lunt, Town Manager, Mount Desert

WERU News Report 6/18/14

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Maine has been on the forefront of the buy local / eat local movement for years, and in Deer Isle-Stonington a landmark was achieved last week, with the formation of the largest worker-owned cooperative in the state. When the owners of the Burnt Cove Market, V&S Variety and Pharmacy, and The Galley
were preparing to retire last year, it seemed the logical next step was to sell the businesses. The businesses are one of the largest employers in town, and the future of those jobs was uncertain. But then the idea of forming a cooperative was floated. Over the past year, with the cooperation of the owners, Vern and Sandra Seile, and assistance from Mark Sprackland of the Independent Retailers Shared Services Cooperative and Rob Brown of the Cooperative Development Institute, the employees came together and became the new owners of the largest worker cooperative in Maine

Today on the News Report we’re talking with some of the people involved in the process, to learn what went on behind-the-scenes, and how this model might be applied in other places to protect small local businesses. Rob Brown, Mark Sprackland, and Allen White, one of the new owners, spoke with us by phone from one of the stores earlier today

Voices 7/13/10

Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Contributors:  Lawrence Reichard, Larry Dansinger, Meaghan LaSalla, Norman Snowden

Lawrence Reichard brings us an update from Honduras, one year post-coup;  Larry Dansinger with an episode of “Outside the Box” re: finding common ground with the Tea Party movement, Meaghan LaSalla reports on an Earth First! protest of industrial wind in Maine; Norman Snowden with a vignette about life in Deer Isle in the 1950s