KVCOG
is a municipal services corporation owned and operated by and for the
benefit of its members. KVCOG helps its members to deliver cost
effective and efficient municipal services, to create a more stable,
growing, and diversified regional economy, to improve transportation
and communication, and to preserve our natural environment through conservation
of resources and wise land use planning and decision-making.
KVCOG grew out of a shared desire by municipal officials in Kennebec,
Somerset, and western Waldo Counties to take a regional approach to
improving life for their citizens by pooling resources and building their
capacity
to solve problems and to take advantage of opportunities not otherwise
available to any one municipality. KVCOG is an example of a successful
and productive regional collaboration in practice. Founded in 1967,
KVCOG is in its 40th year of serving its municipal members. Membership
evolved
from the founding municipalities to the current fifty-two. These
fifty-two members represent a population of about 175,000.
KVCOG’s staff of eight offers planning (land use,
environmental, solid waste, transportation), community development,
economic development,
and business finance services to members and their citizens. KVCOG
enjoys working relationships with the Maine State Planning Office, Department
of Transportation, Department of Economic and Community Development
(CDBG),
and the Finance Authority of Maine. The US Department of Commerce (EDA),
the US Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, and the US Small
Business Administration also fund KVCOG municipal and business assistance
programs. KVCOG is a federally designated Economic Development District
and a state designated Regional Planning and Development District.
Through
affiliations with the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development,
the Maine Small Business Development Center, the Maine
Manufacturers Extension Partnership and the Maine Procurement Technical Assistance Center, KVCOG packages
a portfolio of state business attraction and technical assistance
and counseling programs designed to retain and attract firms able to
create
jobs.
The Governor’s Council on Maine’s Quality of Place has provided Governor Baldacci with a final report the week of May 5,2008. The Council’s full report is available on-line at:
http://mainegov-images.informe.org/spo/specialprojects/qualityofplace/documents/2ndQofPReport_05_01_08.pdf
KVCOG Executive Director, Ken Young, is a member of the Governor’s Council on Maine’s Quality of Place.
