Top 10 reasons why It’s Happening Here in L-A
1.) When it comes to economic development activity, L-A led the state in 2002, according the Maine Department of Economic & Community Development, and has been at or near the top ever since.
2. ) L-A has earned numerous statewide awards, including a “President’s Award” from the Maine State Chamber of Commerce for partnerships that have led to numerous economic successes; a “Champions of Economic Development” award from the Maine Development Foundation; and an award from GrowSmart Maine for the community’s smart growth principles.
3.) The Lewiston Police Department is the only police force in Maine to be certified by the national Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
4.) Lewiston-Auburn’s crime rate is lower than the other major metropolitan areas in Maine, including Bangor, Augusta, and Portland.
5.) More than a dozen new restaurants have opened in the Twin Cities in an 18-month period.
6.) L-A was featured in a recent Boston Globe article focusing on L-A’s new creative image in an article entitled, “Changes afoot in a hipper L-A.”
7.) Governor Baldacci unveiled two of his cornerstone policy programs in Lewiston, the Governor’s Pine Tree Zones Program and his Creative Economy initiative which came out of the Governor’s Conference on the Creative Economy held at the Bates Mill Complex.
8.) L-A was named one of the 100 Best Small Arts Communities in the country by John Muir Publications.
9.) The General Purpose Foreign Trade Zone in Auburn is one of only two active Foreign Trade Zones in the state.
10.) All of L-A’s four post-secondary educational institutions – Bates College, L-A College, Central Maine Community College, and Andover College – have all undergone or are in the process of a major expansion.
