Recruiting new employees to our region and retaining them once they get here will be two of the most defining indicators of our success over the next half-decade. Our business growth is inextricably tied to our ability to make this region a place people want to work and live. Though this happens year-round through online job postings and headhunters seeking specific people for specific employers, the summertime is an ideal for all of us to lend a hand and to help begin the recruitment process.

Maine has tremendous assets and a unique natural beauty seldom seen elsewhere. We have industry leading companies, and an entrepreneurial spirit which is reflected in the numerous new businesses that start up every year. But for summer tourists, who may not even know they are looking to relocate, one of the great recruitment things we all can do, is make sure they can find the things they want to see and overwhelm them with all this state has to offer.

Most people don’t realize the critical part they play in that recruitment. Yet think about it when you visit somewhere else and a local tells you, “Oh you gotta try the fish tacos at that new restaurant,” the odds of you taking that advice increase dramatically. It’s the same here, where your opinion as a local carries a lot of weight with those new to our area. Your recommendations are an endorsement and if you point people in the right direction, there’s a great chance they will return here again, and an even better chance they may consider moving here.

Here’s some tips that everyone, and especially our frontline workers in restaurants, retail and hospitality, need to know:

Frontline workers are our greatest untapped regional ambassadors

As many people as we could possibly meet and answer questions for in our chamber office, in the main street offices and in our regional information centers, it pales in comparison to how many people ask their server, “What should we do today?” or ask the shopkeeper, “Where’s a good place to grab a bite?” Even if we see hundreds of people per week, all the restaurants, shops and hotel lobbies see thousands. You’re absolutely vital to our tourism.

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With that in mind, if you’re a frontline employee in a tourism-related business, and you don’t know the information people need, please ask. In the list below there are several resources you can direct people to. This goes both ways too for other businesses. For instance, if you want to drive more people to your destination tourism business, be it a shop or fishing charter, one of the best things you can do is be sure the servers at two or three local restaurants know what you do. Give them some samples, or a free trip and their recommendations will help you tenfold. And vice versa, if a shopkeeper or boat captain sent you three tables worth of hungry mouths to feed, think of them first when Father’s Day shopping. Build you own informal networks and begin to promote each other.

Tourism information centers in Bath and Brunswick

We’re absolutely blessed with two incredible information centers in our region, with the Bath Regional Information Center just off Route 1 in Bath and the Brunswick Station Information Center next to Amtrak. If people are looking for maps and guides to our region or points beyond our borders, these are the two most critical places in the region for that information. Does Main Street Bath, Brunswick Downtown Association and the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber office have knowledge of the area? Sure we do, but the hard-working staff at these info centers are equipped to handle most any question because that’s what they do all summer long. If you haven’t stopped by these locations to see what they have, you really should. I have no doubt you will learn about some brochure, map or local information that you were not aware of beforehand.

2021 Eat Play Stay Guide and other publications

The 2021 Eat Play Stay is our chamber companion guide that went to print this week and should be in those information centers around July 1. This guide contains 64 pages of information on our 16-community chamber region from Bath-Brunswick-Topsham and Harpswell, to as far north as Richmond, and as far east as Wiscasset.

Beyond that publication, there are several other essential pieces including downtown maps for both Brunswick and Bath created by their respective downtown organizations and the Discover Harpswell map created by the Harpswell Business Association. Some of these maps may have been printed prior to last year’s summer season, but that matters very little as the streets and attractions haven’t changed. Again, these are available at the local info centers and on shop counters throughout the region.

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2021 Midcoast Calendar of Events & Online Community Calendar

Our chamber collects about 20 organizations’ event dates and annually creates a large community calendar with events listed by date. This is an essential piece for server stations and hotel concierge desks as it is the ultimate tool in answering “what can we do today”. With the late May mask mandate changes many groups are just finalizing their summer event dates now, but the chamber will be working to finalize a calendar for release in July. More importantly the calendar dates will populate the chamber’s community calendar at midcoastmaine.com Look for full updated lists on, or around July 1.

Live + Work In Maine
If you don’t know it, you need to check out LiveAndWorkInMaine.com, which is a tourism and job posting site based on the premise of, “Iif you like visiting here so much, why don’t you move here?”  You can search jobs by bother region of the state and industry of interest. Top-notch recruitment tool.

If you need more info about any of these resources, contact the SMMC office at 725-8797.

Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.

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