Bangor’s top economic development official will step down next month after more than a decade with the city to join the state authority charged with improving the state’s internet connectivity.
Tanya Emery’s last day as Bangor’s community and economic development director will be Oct. 7, she confirmed Tuesday.
She’ll join the Maine Connectivity Authority as economic development director on Oct. 10, she said. The Legislature established the authority last year, with the goal of making high-speed internet universally available throughout Maine.
Emery said she would remain in the Bangor area.
“I’m proud of our amazing staff who do such great work for our community,” she said.
Emery, who has been with the city since 2011 but has served as economic development director since 2013, helped oversee a number of economic revitalization projects during her tenure, including the ongoing overhaul of Pickering Square and the transformation of the Bangor waterfront into a place with a permanent outdoor concert venue and the home to the headquarters of Bangor Savings Bank.
Downtown Bangor has also regained vitality and grown during her tenure. Some 400 businesses now operate in the downtown district, and its assessed value grew by 40 percent between 2015 and 2022, faster than the city as a whole.
But she considers the work she’s done with the fast-growing C&L Aviation Group, the aviation services company housed at Bangor International Airport, to be her proudest accomplishment.
“The work we’ve done with them is probably the single biggest accomplishment I’m proud of, helping them grow and create great jobs here in Bangor,” she said.
The company relocated its headquarters from Australia to Bangor in 2010 and operates out of hangars at the Bangor airport. It’s expanded within Bangor in recent years as its business has continued to grow.
Emery started as the city’s business development specialist in March 2011, before becoming director of community and economic development two years later, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She was previously the deputy director of economic development for the city of Brewer.