Mainebiz

V O L . X X I V N O. X V I I A U G U S T 6 , 2 0 1 8 20 K ristina Egan's father was an air pollution engi- neer, and as a child growing up in Massachusetts, her experience with Maine was largely with the paper mills and the towns he'd visit as he helped mills comply with environmental requirements. She also took a childhood trip to Monhegan Island. "I'd never been anywhere without electricity, anywhere so remote," Egan says as she sits in her office overlook- ing Portland's Back Cove. She's lived in the state since 2010, and those two Maines — the commerce and the quality of place — are the foundation for her role as executive director at the Greater Portland Council of Governments. Egan understands the state's special qualities. "But I'm a data-driven person," says Egan, the organiza- tion's first female director. GPCOG has 25 member municipalities in Cumberland County and provides planning services and other catalyst functions, everything from trans- portation issues to land use. Its projects are diverse, covering a wide range from civic consultation to larger issues of regional economic sustainability. For instance, a master plan for South Portland's West End neighborhood was named the Maine Planning Association Plan of the Year in June. Another project, the Portland Region Food Foundry, is a three-year program looking for ways to put 2.5 million pounds of food into the local economy. Data-driven idealism "I always wanted to make the world a better place," Egan says. "When I was 3, my mom had me hold- ing a sign for [enactment of ] the ERA. She instilled a sense of purpose and public service." But there's also the data side of her — something she inherited from her scientist father. "My father instilled in me that it's very compatible, you can use data and science to make the world better." Egan moved here because she married a Mainer — Alan Caron, an entrepreneur who is an independent candidate for governor. For six years, she commuted back to the Bay State for her job as director of Transportation for Massachusetts, a 58-organization coalition. She also ran for, and won, a seat on the Freeport Town Council. "It was part of my plan to be instantly integrated into Freeport," she says, laughing. e bigger benefit, she says, is that she forged a deep understanding of the town's issues after knock- ing on hundreds of doors while she campaigned, including developing a deep respect for the effect of property taxes on town residents. "It's important to keep people here who have been here all their lives," she says. On a larger scale, it gave her perspective on how getting things done works on a local scale. "I learned a lot about balancing competing issues," she says. She says it became clear that when politics are put aside, people care about the same things: economic safety, good transportation, preserving quality of place. Touting commerce and quality of place B y M a u r e e n M i L L i k e n Kristina Egan Executive director Greater Portland Council of Governments P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2 2 » Kristina Egan, executive director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments, is an advocate both for Maine's commerce and its quality of place. Greater Portland Council of Governments 970 Baxter Blvd., Portland Founded: 1969 Membership: 25 Cumberland County municipalities Contact: 207-774-9892 / www.GPCOG.org

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