By Karen Martin
Each October, the Scarborough Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) recognizes the contributions of the business community at our Annual Celebration of Business. This year, the event marks SEDCO’s 40th anniversary and will take place at the Black Point Inn on October 28, 2025. The meeting brings together business leaders, elected officials, local boards, and town staff to meet, chat informally and get to know one another. The last decade has seen this event grow to nearly 150 attendees. While there is plenty of time for networking, the program highlights activities from the past year including new businesses, current economic conditions and policy highlights.
The SEDCO Board also recognizes four businesses each year for a variety of characteristics from contributions to the community to business milestones. The Board always reserves one award to celebrate longevity and recognizes a business that has been in the community for at least 25 years. A project of the year is also named, identifying a new build or substantially renovated property.
At the October 2024 event, the Board recognized the following businesses: Michelle Raber State Farm Insurance, Pine Point Grill, Rodgers Ski & Sport (Legacy Business), and The Innovation District at The Downs (Project of the Year). The 2025 recipients will be announced on October 28.
Since this will be our 40th celebration, we will look back on previous SEDCO meetings and town milestones. Some of the same topics we face today can be found in our newspaper clipping files from 40 years ago! Population growth and home prices were at the heart of many town discussions back in the mid-1980’s.
The 40th Annual Celebration of Business is open to the public. Ticket prices are subsidized by our generous sponsors in order to keep the prices reasonable.
To keep track of the celebration and to see the announcement of the award winners for this year, go to SEDCO’s Website at scarboroughmaine.org. You will also be able to view our 2025 Annual Report which lays out SEDCO’s activities and provides some baseline statistics on population, housing units, housing sales, square feet of commercial space, and many other community statistics.
Karen Martin is Executive Director of Scarborough Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO).
