Getting Back To Our Grassroots, What is the Measure of a Quality Job?

For those trading time for money, the quality of time spent is an elemental measure of a quality job.

Nigel Tadyanehondo Unsplash

The economy of Maine was centralized in 1976. Coastal Enterprises Incorporated (CEI) has been a community development corporation in Maine since 1977. Both described their purpose as bringing capital resources to the small business community but CEI started as a grassroots resource while Governor Longley’s Task Force was composed of the heads of the largest and wealthiest corporations in Maine.

The State’s centrally managed economy and the grassroots are diametrically opposing economic development concepts, one growing from local roots and the other managed from the top down.

CEI’s purpose has evolved over 44 years, as reflected in the language that it implements to communicate its purpose:

The Turn of the Century:

CED puts the values of equity, social justice, and grassroots empowerment squarely on the table as part of any sustainable development effort. Without them, there can be neither economic nor institutional sustainability to undergird initiatives wh…