The Wilton Group looking to bring everyone together

WILTON – A small group of residents is looking to bring several elements of the community together, with an eye toward promoting local commerce, attracting new businesses and making the town as inviting as possible.

A community breakfast to inform interested residents about the group will be held Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 a.m. at the First Congregational Church.

“People do business with people they know, like and trust,” The Wilton Group’s Interim Chairwoman Susan Atwood said, quoting a business development specialist. “If we know each other then we can support each other.”

The concept is a simple one, but difficult to implement. Wilton has several diverse sections; the downtown area, the Route 2 corridor as well as more isolated businesses. It has a variety of different community action groups; the Emblem Club, the Wilton Lions, the Blueberry Festival organizers. Many people, Atwood fears, may not really know what new business or organization has set up shop just down the road.

“Do we even know what’s in our own backyard?” she wondered. “We have a treasure here in Wilton.”

In the fall of 2005, a handful of residents began meeting at a local eatery. Over coffee, they began discussing ideas to improve the downtown, signs pointing to off-street parking, for example. Those residents became the steer committee for a group that eventually grew to 30 people, meeting at the First Congregational Church.

Deciding that some sort of structure was needed, they started calling themselves “The Wilton Group,” developing a mission statement and bylaws as well as an outline of a strategic plan. But by 2007, the group had dwindled to half a dozen people who eventually stopped meeting, with their businesses and other projects demanding attention.

In the summer of 2009, Wilton Town Manager Rhonda Irish called some residents and local business owners including Atwood, who is the part-owner and operator of the Wilson Lake Inn and had been one of the last members of the then-defunct The Wilton Group. Irish pointed out several downtown revitalization projects had started, people cleaning out empty windows and painting buildings, as well as volunteers starting a number of new programs focusing on flowers to festivals to the foot of Wilson Lake.

“We absolutely saw the benefits of a partnership among businesses, residents and the local, town government,” Irish said. She noted that several opportunities for the town, such as grant funding for town improvements, required strong, organized, support from within the community.

Atwood pointed out that the foundations for Irish’s proposal had already been created years earlier. So several residents and business owners, some original Wilton Group members, met and sat down with Threshold to Maine’s Mark Hews, whose organization helps communities developing new programs and projects. The group, with Atwood serving as an interim chair, Sheila Adkins at Wilton Hardware as interim secretary and Barclays’ Director of Customer Care Jen McEntee as interim treasurer, zeroed in on what they saw as a central issue in Wilton, lack of communication.

The Wilton Group’s stated goal is to “enhance, preserve, and promote the unique character of Wilton, by supporting economic and cultural development and encouraging cooperation with our community.”

With that in mind, the group has applied for nonprofit status with the state of Maine, has printed brochures and is developing a Web site to showcase Wilton businesses. Atwood pointed out that advertising can be expensive and people are generally to busy to devote substantial time to meeting other residents and learn about other businesses and opportunities. The Wilton Group hopes to help build partnerships.

The group is aimed at more than just one section of Wilton and at more than just the promotion of businesses. For example, the local Boy Scout troop is raising money for a trip. Many people, however, don’t know about that yet. Wilton has some great community groups with dedicated organizers, Atwood said, but they don’t have a great way to communicate.

“We think the time has come. We’re looking to pull Wilton together as a community,” Atwood said.

The Wilton Group invites all interested parties to join them for an informational community breakfast on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 7 a.m., at the First Congregational Church on Main Street in Wilton. Atwood said anyone can call her at 645-3721 for more information or to RVSP. Donations will be accepted by the church to help cover the church’s costs.