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"It's just amazing what this town can do," says Nancy Ames, owner of the new Sullivan House Bakery and 15-year Gorham resident. Sullivan House, which opened a few months ago, started as a fantasy for Ames, who has always had a passion for baking. But that dream quickly became a reality with the backing of town administration, Gorham's revolving loan fund, and an outpouring of community support. "I realized the town would support me every step of the way," she says. Ames embodies the excitement many business owners feel for Gorham, a vibrant community on the outskirts of Portland with a rich history of agriculture and manufacturing. e college town is home to an innovative and expanding industrial sector and thriving creative economy. Its burgeoning village center recently welcomed a slew of new businesses catering to a family-friendly and fun-loving workforce. If that isn't enough, Gorham is growing as an outdoor recreation desti- nation, with nearly 50 miles of easily accessible trails. e town's redefined approach to economic development is a direct result of community-led efforts to work closely with businesses to address their concerns for doing business in Gorham, and enhance the village as a vibrant downtown center. "We have revamped the way we do business as a town looking close- ly at our ordinances and zoning to make a much more business-friend- ly approach," says Lee Pratt, chair of Gorham Town Council and chief financial officer of ODAT Machine Inc. "Gorham values retaining the businesses we have and made this a priority by forming strong relations with the business community." After several redevelopment projects of Gorham's downtown center, the town has now turned its attention to a planned development of 141 acres of land zoned for industrial and commercial use, creating an opportunity to attract new businesses to a site adjacent to the existing Gorham Industrial Park. A strength of Gorham's industrial parks has been the diversity in the types of businesses located there, says Kevin Jensen Gorham's economic development director. He sees the town's industrial park expansion as building on that success to attract a variety of businesses, large and small, while creating opportunity for growth overall. "As the Greater Portland market continues to heat up, we want to be a part of that story," Jensen says. "Enabling businesses to build to their specific needs while working with developers to design industrial space for their clients, that's what we're focused on." Starting with a strong foundation Part of that focus involves continuing relationships with the long- time operations that have found success in Gorham and chose to further grow their businesses there, like Harvey Performance Compa- ny, which manufactures tools for machinists and engineers. ey began their company in the Gorham Industrial Park and relocated to their new 79,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility just across town last year. "We have always had a great relationship with the town during our 15 years in Gorham," says Steve Vatcher, vice president of operations at Harvey Performance. "One of the best decisions we made was to remain Growing with Gorham: The town is redefining its approach to economic development through strong community support, and businesses are noticing Sullivan House Bakery Photo/Karen Bradbury

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