The $160,000 investment made by the county has allowed the council to acquire $3.2 million in federal and state grants and to help establish about 100 new jobs.

To keep that momentum going, the council asked Piscataquis County commissioners Tuesday to increase the county�s contribution in 2003 from $40,000 to $75,000. The funds help cover the salary for Mark Scarano, executive director of the council, and would help cover the loss of state marketing funds.

�That�s quite a jump in one year,� Commissioner Ruel Cross said, upon hearing the request. �A $35,000 increase is a little hard to stomach in today�s conditions.�

The request will be considered by the commissioners during coming budget deliberations.

Tom Lizotte, a past president of the council, told commissioners Tuesday that their �leap of faith� in 1998 definitely paid off. �Your good faith has been repaid and the economic investment has been returned in spades,� he said.

Justifying the increase, Lizotte noted the council�s accomplishments that include the opening of the first postsecondary education center in the county, the formation of a corporation to develop three speculation buildings for business growth, and the near development of a Wood Composites Incubator that would encourage wood manufacturing entrepreneurs.

In addition, the council�s efforts are credited for the relocation and expansion of JSI Store Fixtures in Milo and Creative Apparel�s expansion to Dover-Foxcroft.

Verifying that the help provided by Scarano was the driving force behind Creative Apparel�s expansion to Dover-Foxcroft was David Carr. The manager of the company�s Harmony and Dover-Foxcroft plants told the commissioners that local officials conducted much groundwork for the company.

Creative Apparel employs 46 people with more to be hired, Carr said. The company intends to ship about 90 percent of its products from the Dover-Foxcroft location, he said.

�We�ve shown what we have accomplished in the past,� Lizotte said. He said the council believes that town officials will support the $75,000 request because it benefits the entire county. He suggested that $50,000 be taken from the county budget and $25,000 from the unorganized territories budget.

Lizotte noted that town officials in the county are behind the economic development efforts.

That includes Sophie Wilson, Brownville town manager, who told the commissioners Tuesday that it is everyone�s responsibility to try to stop the mass exodus of people from Piscataquis County. She said the economic development drive is one of the truly regional efforts under way in the county. That drive and its momentum have caused her community to do projects that were never considered before, she acknowledged.

Toward that end, Lizotte said that building on success brings an attitude change in residents that leads to more success.

"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Wednesday, October 02, 2002 edition of the Bangor Daily NEWS and is used here with permission."