Tomorrow evening (Tuesday, 11/16), Greg LeRoy, Founder and Executive Director of Good Jobs First, will deliver MECEP’s latest Shepard Lee Lecture. LeRoy’s topic will be “Economic Development in Hard Times: How to Spend Less and Get More.” A 5:00 p.m. reception will precede the 5:30 p.m. lecture. The event will take place in the Lee Community Room of the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) Wishcamper Center, 34 Bedford Street in Portland.
Greg LeRoy is known as one of America’s leading advocates for corporate and government accountability in economic development and smart growth for working families. He has been called “the leading national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies.” With Maine facing a $1.1 billion budget shortfall, MECEP believes that Greg will provide insight and ideas to help to inform the debate in the months ahead.
A discussion following the lecture will feature panelists Rob Brown, Co-director, Opportunity Maine; Stacy Mitchell, Senior Researcher, Institute for Local Self-Reliance; and Orlando Delogu, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Maine School of Law. The event is free to the general public and open to the media. Because of space limitations, attendees are asked to register in advance by visiting MECEP’s website or calling (207)622-7381. Parking will be available in nearby campus parking lots and garages.
Greg LeRoy founded Good Jobs First in 1998. For 25 years, he has written, trained and consulted on development issues for state and local governments, labor-management committees, unions, community groups, tax and budget watchdogs, environmentalists, smart growth advocates, and associations of public officials. A nationally prominent speaker, he is the author of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005) and No More Candy Store: States and Cities Making Job Subsidies Accountable (1994).
MECEP initiated the Shepard Lee Lecture series to honor the noted entrepreneur, civic leader, political advisor and advocate for justice who contributed to Maine’s public life for more than five decades.
