Ten Towns Together
Collaborative Capacity Building in Maine
Editor’s Note: All communities stand to benefit from thinking critically about how to thrive in the midst of an ever-changing social and environmental landscape, but not all communities have the resources to do so. The collaboration between 10 rural Maine towns described below provides some insight into what can be gained by intentionally connecting communities that face similar challenges and constraints. The reflections below offer a blueprint for how communities with limited resources or staff capacity can share skills and best practices while building solidarity across municipal boundaries. – Alex Redfield
It is easy to believe that your town is so special and unique that no one “from away” could ever understand what your community is going through or offer strategies that will work in your particular context. But the truth is, most small towns in our region have a lot in common. Somewhere else in rural New England, another community is wrestling with the same headaches: housing shortages, crumbling infrastructure, struggling shops, or declining civic engagement. And, chances are, some other community has already stumbled onto at least part of the answer you might need.
Wouldn’t it be something if towns could connect, share their success stories, learn from each other’s missteps, and spark new ideas together?
That’s exactly what’s happening in Maine through Building Community Strength (BCS), a three-year initiative focused on growing the capacity of rural towns to shape their future together. The structure and spirit of the program, with an explicit focus of weaving together new networks of resources and collaborators, offer an adaptable model for rural regions throughout New England. The program, led by GrowSmart Maine and supported by USDA Rural Development and American Farmland Trust, is helping 10 communities come together to ask hard questions, share lessons, and rebuild the civic fabric that makes local progress possible.
Rediscovering the Power of Local People
BCS starts with one powerful premise: Real change doesn’t come from outside consultants or top-down policies. It comes from people who live here, know the place, and are willing to take the first step.
One thing is clear: While every town has its own personality, the root challenges—civic fatigue, loss of trust, dwindling engagement—are shared. And so is the hunger for more connection. BCS is about meeting that hunger with opportunity: the chance to grow, to learn, and to act side by side. What unites these communities is not just the challenges they face, but a shared commitment to tackling them together.
How It Works
The 10 BCS towns have limited municipal staff and capacity, and are all grappling with the aftershocks of industrial decline or agricultural transition. They are rural communities with deep ties to land—whether forest or farmland—and a desire to shape their future despite constrained resources. Connecting these communities started with a cold call. GrowSmart Maine reached out to rural municipalities across the state with a simple but ambitious invitation: Would you commit to a three-year journey to strengthen your town’s planning capacity? The offer included an invitation to five in-person workshops, one-on-one technical support from a dedicated planning expert, and an opportunity to shape a growing network of similar communities tackling shared challenges.
Municipal staff and community leaders from some of northern New England’s most physically isolated and economically challenged counties are participating in this collaborative training program. Image courtesy of GrowSmart Maine.
Each town was paired with a trainer from one of four partner organizations: The Musson Group, North Star Planning, Sunrise County Economic Council, and Eastern Maine Development Corporation. These trainer-trainee relationships became the heart of the program. Trainers met with their assigned communities during workshops and made site visits throughout the year to dive deeper into local challenges and opportunities.
Throughout the program, communities have been addressing diverse but deeply interconnected topics: climate resilience, economic development, forest and farmland viability and protection, affordable housing, and inclusive community development. Along the way, they’re also learning how to navigate funding systems, apply for grants, and build coalitions that last beyond the life of the program. Just as importantly, they’re forming what’s known as a “community of practice,” a peer support network to carry the work forward long after the final workshop ends.
From Icebreakers to Inspiration
The first BCS workshop, held in April 2024 in Bangor, opened with a hint of uncertainty. Some participants weren’t entirely sure what they had signed up for, and the room was filled with cautious energy. But things changed quickly. A “speed-dating” session with state and federal agency representatives allowed participants to speak one-on-one about their priorities and challenges. This format broke down barriers and sparked genuine dialogue. As one government staffer noted, “It’s so important to talk face-to-face when exploring options for funding or assistance between government and rural leaders.”
Building Community Strength is based on connecting leaders from rural communities to identify effective strategies for addressing shared challenges. Photo courtesy of GrowSmart Maine
As conversation began to flow more easily, early connections began to form—not just between town officials and their trainers, but among peers who were realizing they were anything but isolated in their work. By the second gathering, the atmosphere had shifted. Participants greeted each other like old friends, eager to reconnect and venture into more challenging conversations they had saved for later.
This workshop included a hands-on mapping exercise where participants from each town laid out their own land use data next to information on rivers, forests, and wetlands, and then began circling spots in need of protection and spots better suited for growth. Participants also visited a local affordable housing development, sparking rich discussion on how to tackle housing shortages in Maine. The workshop inspired the City Manager of Presque Isle to initiate a cross-municipal conversation about regional housing needs in Aroostook County. That spark has caught hold in northern Maine, and, with support from GrowSmart Maine and the state’s Department of Economic & Community Development, a regional housing summit is now in the works.
“Wouldn’t it be something if towns could connect, share their success stories, learn from each other’s missteps, and spark new ideas together?”
The third workshop was hosted at a redeveloped mill that was recently transformed into a high-end hotel in Skowhegan—an inspiring setting for discussions on economic development and downtown revitalization. Thanks to the Skowhegan representatives in the cohort, the members of the BCS group were the hotel’s very first guests during its soft launch. This offered participants a unique opportunity: a behind-the-scenes tour of the redevelopment project, with firsthand insights into the funding strategies, partnerships, and persistence that brought the vision to life. Seeing a once-vacant industrial space reimagined through creative investment and community-driven planning clearly energized the group, showing what’s possible in small towns with the right mix of local leadership and outside support.
The Spinning Mill project in Skowhegan, Maine, exemplifies how aging textile infrastructure, common throughout New England, can be repurposed for contemporary community needs. Photo courtesy of Pike Project Development
Your Community Already Has It All
BCS isn’t just about training. It’s about transformation. These workshops are spaces where trust is built, ideas are tested, and community is reimagined. BCS affirms what many rural towns already know deep down: They have the knowledge, the care, and the values necessary to move forward. By connecting these assets to a deeper network of support, real change is possible.
In rural communities, the barriers to action often go beyond capacity. Economic issues like declining tax bases, underfunded services, aging infrastructure, and limited staff can make even simple initiatives feel out of reach. The BCS model is promising because it works within those limits. Without new funding or ongoing support, this cohort model strengthens local networks, builds leadership from within, and connects communities with peer support and practical resources they can realistically use.
Participants aren’t just planning. They’re learning how to connect small steps with big goals: how to structure collaborative grant applications, tap into public-private partnerships, and build momentum through early wins. The model is rooted in real-world conditions, which gives it staying power.
In a field as complex as land use planning, where overlapping jurisdictions, limited resources, and deep-rooted challenges can stall progress, BCS shows that with the right support, even the most under-resourced towns can make meaningful, strategic steps toward a better future.
Dayea Shim, AICP, is a land use planner specializing in strategic, environmental, and resilience planning with an emphasis on community engagement. She serves as a Program Coordinator at GrowSmart Maine, where she assists rural towns with planning, grant help, and collaboration with stakeholders. Dayea holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a BA in public health and psychology.