Greetings, I have been heartened by the outpouring of response to our recent appeals. We've passed the half-way mark on the way towards meeting our urgent fundraising needs, and GrowSmart is well on its way to obtaining the support it needs to carry on. Your help gives me confidence in the future of GrowSmart Maine, and I hope you will continue to support the organization in any way that you can. With some sadness, I am leaving GrowSmart to pursue the next chapter in my work, and my life, and to allow GrowSmart to find new energy and new leadership, as it carries on the critical work of building a more sustainable future for Maine. This is certainly not a perfect time for me to leave the organization, but we rarely find a perfect time for departures. I leave with an immense sense of pride in the work we did together and in the changes that we've helped set in motion in Maine. I don't think we could have expected or hoped for more, in such a short period of time, and I thank you for all of that. Nearly eight years ago, I suspended my fifteen-year consulting business, so that I could devote myself to creating a new statewide non-profit organization that would help grow Maine's economy and improve the lives of Maine people, while protecting everything that is special about this place we love. Since then, all of us together have propelled this young organization to great heights, particularly through the production of the Brookings report, "Charting Maine's Future," and by the great work that we have done in Augusta. Through those years I've had the extraordinary good fortune to work with inspiring and dedicated leaders and activists in all parts of the state, and with talented and committed staff, board members, volunteers and supporters. I suspect that I will most remember 2007, a year in which I traveled to every corner of Maine, speaking at over 100 meetings, large and small, to promote the ideas of "Charting Maine's Future". In those meetings, I had the privilege to meet with thousands of civic-minded Mainers like you, and to see the core ideas of "Charting Maine's Future" begin to take root everywhere. I have given to GrowSmart, these eight years, all of the energy and ideas and resources that I could summon, and will continue to help the organization, as a volunteer, to smooth this transition. I now find myself, as always, bursting with hope for Maine and with new energy for the next chapter in my life. The next few months will see two major changes in my life. First, I'll be launching a new consulting business called 'The Eco-Strategies Group', which will promote sound and sustainable development and initiatives that both grow Maine's economy and protect our quality of place. And, happily, this fall I will be marrying my best friend and adding her energetic and delightful four year old son to my life. Though I don't know exactly what the future holds for me, I hope you will continue to support GrowSmart Maine and that many of us will work together, in other times and other ways, to make Maine a better place. I am closing out this chapter with my best wishes to GrowSmart, to its terrific staff, and to you. Maine is fortunate to have you all! With affection and gratitude, Alan P.S.: If you would like to contact me on non-GrowSmart business, you can email or call me at acaron@suscom-maine.net or at 207-865-9511. For GrowSmart business, please contact Laura Miller at lmiller@growsmartmaine.org; or call 847-9275. Pitch in a few dollars to keep GrowSmart going through this recession! Your contributions are more important than ever: make a donation online, via our secure webpages. |
