GPCOG launches Resilience Corps 
This week, GPCOG launched the first-ever Resilience Corps, our new partnership with AmeriCorps. Fourteen service volunteers are paired with local government agencies and regional cohorts to support regional resilience in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Fellows assist regional initiatives including broadband planning, small business support, the Greater Portland Resilience Exchange, transportation accessibility and inclusion, and climate action planning. Fellows also support projects at host sites including the Maine Department of Environmental Protection; the Towns of Standish, Harrison, Naples, and Cape Elizabeth; the Cities of Portland and South Portland; Portland Downtown; Casco Bay Lines and the Maine Broadband Coalition. 

Each fellow will provide 1,700 service hours through the next year, resulting in 23,000 cumulative hours of added capacity to regional resilience projects.

This program is made possible through a three-year award GPCOG received from Volunteer Maine. 
Corps Members’ progress and projects will be featured regularly on our website.
Join us: Resilience in Real Time webinar
What does resilience look like in the Greater Portland region? Join GPCOG for the first-ever Resilience in Real Time dialogue on Thursday, Nov. 19 at noon.

You’ll hear from innovative small business owners who have adapted their business models during the pandemic in order to support vulnerable populations. Here are the panelists:

  • Rose Barboza—Founder and Co-Director, Black Owned Maine
  • Kerem Durdag—President, GWI (Great Works Internet)
  • Kate Griffin—Owner, Maggie Mae's Restaurant in Yarmouth + Cooking For Community Partner
  • Wells Lyon—CEO, Rogue Industries

This series is part of the Greater Portland Resilience Exchange, which seeks to address community needs with creative solutions and to identify new opportunities for resource-sharing. 

To accommodate meaningful dialogue, this session has a limited number of registrations. Please register in advance.
Transportation planning study 
proposals now accepted
GPCOG is accepting transportation planning study proposals for the 2021 calendar year. If you would like the Maine DOT to consider your proposal for selection, please complete a short survey by Friday, Nov. 20 at 5:00 p.m.

The Maine DOT calls for proposals between $7,500 and $12,500. There is no required municipal match for these studies, and GPCOG’s planning and engineering staff will complete the entire planning project. Our past studies include a pedestrian safety study in the Town of Sebago and a trip diversion analysis in the Town of Gray. Please contact GPCOG planner Harold Spetla with questions about submitting a proposal. 

$2.7 Million available for Maine towns and cities
Governor Janet Mills announced a collaboration between the State of Maine and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to launch the Working Communities Challenge in Maine. Through this program, more than $2.7 million in grant funding is available for proposals from Maine communities that aim to increase economic opportunities, reduce poverty and improve social outcomes for residents. Selected proposals will receive between $300,000 and $500,000 to make their proposals possible.  

GPCOG continues 
remote operations
GPCOG’s staff has worked almost entirely remotely since March 2020. As coronavirus cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations rise in Maine, meetings that GPCOG hosts or attends will continue to be remote as a default. When remote meetings are not possible, GPCOG staff can meet in person off-site if all participants maintain social distancing, wear face coverings, and respect CDC and state guidelines for the capacity and size of indoor gatherings. 
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Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG)
970 Baxter Boulevard
Suite 201
Portland, ME 04103
Phone: 207-774-9891
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