Mayor of Portland Mark Dion sits down with MEREDA President Craig Young and MEREDA Board Member and MaineHousing’s Senior Director of Government Relations and Communications Erik Jorgensen, for the seventeenth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. Dion, who grew up in Lewiston, discusses his life-long career in public service, which includes serving in the Portland Police Department for 20 years, then as Sheriff for 12 years, and as both a State Representative and Senator. Dion shares how Portland has ..read more

The founders of GreenMars – Nate Green, Lead Developer, and Chris Marshall, Business Manager – sit down with MEREDA President Craig Young and MEREDA Board Member Josh Soley, for the sixteenth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. Green and Marshall discuss how they search for development opportunities by reviewing town’s comprehensive plans and give an overview of one of their projects in Brunswick that is in a “designated growth zone.” The pair, who both grew up in York and met in preschool, talk abo ..read more

Kevin Bunker, Principal of Developers Collaborative; Greg Payne, Senior Advisor on Housing Policy at the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future; and Danielle West, City Manager in Portland, sat down with MEREDA President Craig Young for a MEREDA Morning Menu event on February 1st entitled ‘Housing the Unhoused and Asylum Seekers.’ The thought-provoking discussion was recorded and rebroadcast for the fifteenth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. The aim of the group’s discussion was to ..read more

Rebecca Hatfield, President & CEO of Avesta Housing, and Ed Gardner Broker/Owner of Gardner Real Estate Group, sit down with MEREDA President Craig Young and MEREDA Vice President Shannon Richards for the fourteenth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. The group delves into an important topic: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and discusses what it means to them personally and professionally. Hatfield talks about her goal to lead by example and her efforts to make DEI a fundamental part of ..read more

Jeanne Hulit, President and CEO of Maine Community Bank, and Steve deCastro, President and CEO of Gorham Savings Bank, sit down with MEREDA Board Member Josh Soley for the thirteenth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. Hulit and deCastro share how the recent merger of Gorham Savings Bank and Maine Community Bank came together – an 18 month process that has resulted in a win-win for both banks. The group discusses some of the barriers to the merger process, the succession planning they have in place ..read more

Tom Watson, Founder of Reveler and Port Properties Management, and John Laliberte, CEO of Reveler and Port Properties Management, sit down with MEREDA President Craig Young for the twelfth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. Watson shares how he got his start in real estate development with a four-unit building and talks about why, after earning degrees from Stanford and Boston University, he chose to be a sheetrocker in Boston. Watson goes on to discuss how buying The Metropolitan in downtown Portl ..read more

Maine Senator Matt Pouliot of Augusta and House Representative Traci Gere of Kennebunk sit down with MEREDA President Craig Young and Pierce Atwood attorney and government relations’ advocate Elizabeth Frazier for the eleventh episode of MEREDA Matters -the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. Both Senator Pouliot and Representative Gere serve on the Joint Select Committee on Housing. They provide an overview of the history and focus of the committee and discuss Maine’s dire need for housing – the state needs some 80,000 new units ..read more

Ken Entenmann, Senior Vice President, Chief Investment Office and Chief Economist at NBT Bank, sits down with MEREDA President Craig Young and Senior Director of Affordable Housing at NBT Bank Kim Twitchell (formerly Maine Regional President of NBT Bank) for the tenth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. The conversation begins with Entenmann sharing his career path and why he loves economics. The group then delves into a discussion on the resiliency of the U.S. economy and the important factors impa ..read more

Will Savage, President of Acorn Engineering and Ryan Senatore, Principal of Ryan Senatore Architecture, sit down with MEREDA Vice President Shannon Richards and MEREDA President Craig Young for the ninth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. Frequent collaborators, Savage and Senatore discuss some of the high-profile projects they are working on throughout the state, including Maine’s tallest building at 201 Federal Street. The group explores new design trends in housing such as smaller unit sizes, en ..read more

Josh Miranda, Owner of Miranda Restaurant Group, sits down with MEREDA Board Member Josh Soley and MEREDA President Craig Young for the eighth episode of MEREDA Matters - the podcast that puts you in the room with the people who are driving responsible development in Maine. Miranda, a Portland-native, talks about how he got his start working in restaurants at age 14 and how he’s always been comfortable behind a bar. After a successful career opening up bars and restaurants for other hospitality groups in other states, Miranda shares how he ventured into the Portland scene with immersive concep ..read more