Town Of Bowdoinham
Department of Community and Economic Development Plan
BCED Goal: To support the existing businesses of Bowdoinham through promotion of their services, educational opportunities, community awareness and networking. To develop and attract sustainable businesses to Bowdoinham that will reflect the high quality of life and strong sense of community Bowdoinham is known for. To develop, organize and coordinate community enhancing events to bring together the citizens of Bowdoinham.
Economic Development:
Work with local regional and state Economic Developers to coordinate efforts to develop one or more of the following economic clusters to broaden and diversify our job base: Food and Agriculture, Creative Economy and the Arts, and Renewable Energy/Green Construction.
Bowdoinham farms- Develop awareness of locally grown food and local farmers through education and community outreach. Create a local market for farmers to sell goods locally.
Focus on the creative economy by supporting the Merrymeeting Arts Center, Five Rivers Art Alliance, Bowdoinham Guild of Artisans. Brand Bowdoinham as an artistic destination.
Market the area near the highway interchange to companies who will provide needed services and jobs to the citizens of Bowdoinham in a sustainable, low impact manner. Explore the possibilities of 3 phase power and public water to the highway area.
Create greater awareness and utilization of existing Bowdoinham businesses through the Bowdoinham News, Bowdoinham.com, Merrymeeting Bay Business Association, The Southern Midcoast Chamber other venues.
Explore ways to provide high speed internet to all Bowdoinham residents and citizens.
Community Development:
Work in conjunction with the town planner to increase the viability of the village area through community development grants including but not limited to: façade improvement, pedestrian accessability and safety.
Work in conjunction with Bowdoinham Recreation Dept to create safe recreation areas such as walking paths, biking paths, sidewalks and areas for citizens to recreate and meet. Increase awareness and accessibility of Bowdoinham’s natural resources including the rivers and Merrymeeting Bay.
Enhance community building tools such as the Bowdoinham News, Bowdoinham.com, Summer Concert Series, and Celebrate Bowdoinham.
Tony Cox 11/16/07
Visit Bowdoinham's New Business Resource Center. Click here to visit the website at
For information on happenings/events in the area's business community, visit the
Merrymeeting Bay Business Association at
Tony Cox
Director of Community and Economic Development
Town of Bowdoinham
13 School St
Bowdoinham, Maine 04008
666-5531~ ext 104
Please contact me if you would like your business listed or to be contacted of upcoming events in Bowdoinham. Thanks, Tony
Town Of Bowdoinham, Maine
Bowdoinham was incorporated as the fourteenth town in the Province of Maine in September, 1762. Bowdoinham was one of the earliest shipbuilding centers on the Kennebec River where more than 250 vessels were constructed
By 1810, warehouses and mills lined both shores of the Cathance River. Boarding houses, two hotels, and more than two dozen stores, businesses and manufacturing operations shared Main Street frontage with private homes, estates and churches. By the 1870s, with shipbuilding on the decline, Bowdoinham reverted to what it had always been at the grassroots: a small, agriculturally-based community of self-sufficient farms.~~Residents raised market crops like apples, wheat, hay and potatoes.~~They harvested fish and ice from the rivers and wood from the forests, earning a decent living.
Present day Bowdoinham has a population of approximately 2,800. It remains a very pleasant and prosperous village on the banks of the Cathance and Kennebec Rivers and Merrymeeting Bay. Main Street is home to several vibrant businesses including Bowdoinham Federal Credit Union, Banana Banners, Downeast Insurance, Fox Realty, Law offices of Art Lamothe, and CP Curtis Insurance. Bowdoinham has a rich agricultural history and is currently seeing an increase in traditional and organic farming including large producers and micro farms. Bowdoinham is also the home of many well known artists whose work is a direct reflection of the natural beauty of the area. When FHC Inc. recently moved its headquarters to Bowdoin, the waterfront building quickly became home to five small start-up businesses that fit nicely into the newly
defined “Creative Economy”.
Numerous improvements to the Mailly Waterfront Park include an easily accessible public boat launch, hiking trails and new docks. The park is home to free Sunday Concerts sponsored by the town every Sunday at 6pm during the summer. Visit www.bowdoinham.com to learn more about living and working in Bowdoinham or contact Tony Cox in the Department of Community and Economic Development at 666-5531 or tcox@bowdoinham.com
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