Old Town is looking for a new economic development director after its former director took a job in a neighboring town.
E.J. Roach left his position as economic development director in Old Town earlier this month and began working as the planning and economic development manager in Orono.
The Old Town position was posted on Dec. 6 and has yet to be filled, City Manager Bill Mayo said.
The search comes at a time when Old Town is trying to revitalize its downtown and fill storefronts. Roach brought forward efforts to create a larger tax base and support city services after the Nine Dragons paper mill shut down in 2023, which was one of the city’s largest tax payers and employers.
The new director will be in charge of the Downtown Old Town initiative, which Mayo said is an “important part of what [the city is] trying to do.”
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Downtown Old Town is a group funded through the city’s tax incremental financing districts that attempts to bring businesses to the area and make downtown more attractive to residents. The group was one way Roach was attempting to make downtown more enticing to potential businesses.
Roach created the group and has run it, a role Mayo said the next director would take over. So far, the group’s most visible program has been bringing movie and cookout nights to downtown.
Justin Russell, a resident involved with Downtown Old Town, said Roach did a great job understanding how downtown could be used and improving community interaction. Russell encourages the community to spend time downtown, in part by moonlighting as the Old Town Grinch, a character he embodies to promote local events on social media.
He said he hopes the next director can have the same vision of how to improve downtown.
“I think the best way to help downtown is to make it not just a place for business, but for the community as well,” Russell said.
Encouraging more volunteerism, increasing outreach to other communities, collaborating more with local organizations and increasing advertising were four things Russell said the next director should prioritize.
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Mayo didn’t give any specific priorities for the next director, but did emphasize that Downtown Old Town is an important part of the city’s goals moving forward.
Multiple people have applied for the position, Mayo said, but it may stay open for more than he would like. Mayo didn’t say what the position’s salary would be but did say it would be around what Roach made depending on the candidate’s experience.
There aren’t many qualified candidates applying for open positions, he said, and it hasn’t been easy for any municipality to hire any position recently.
“I’d love to say it’s going to be filled next week, but it’s not easy to fill spots right now,” he said.