Chamber of Commerce staffers have long been used to hearing from businesses that government needs to be more flexible and responsive. As was demonstrated at the MidCoast sessions of Governor LePage’s “Red Tape Audits” last winter, for the most part local businesses don’t want a deregulated free-for-all where rampant capitalism puts all before it to the sword, but rather a true partnership with state and federal agencies where rules and regulations are fair, don’t assume immediate guilt, are evenly enforced, and don’t inflict more damage than they are supposed to prevent. This suggests that there is a lot of potential for progress when posturing and so-called received wisdom is put aside.

There will be some of you of course who saw the words “Governor LePage” and “Red Tape Audit” above and immediately assumed the next sentence called for the abolition of all regulation and mandated blending of Bisphenol-A into school lunches. I can safely assure you that the position of the local business community is much more nuanced than that: there is no desire to despoil the place that we all call home. The beauty of small town Maine after all is that the line between “community” and “business community” doesn’t really exist: there are precious few cigar-chomping plutocrats in these parts. Again, once we put aside our own default positions and really look at what is in front of us we can start to have a proper conversation and make progress together.

Now for business folks reading this: the same rule applies. As I noted right at the start, many of you have- quite rightly- made the case for many years that government needs to listen. I am here to tell you that it is. Alright: not everything that comes out of town office, city hall, Augusta or Washington DC is perfect, nor is it going to be exclusively business friendly, but I can happily report that there have been reforms, changes, rule adjustments, and new programs designed to help you (and by extension your community) prosper even in tough economic times. The trick is that one has to break that conditioning that welds one to the comfortable default of assigning blame and instead be prepared to seize opportunity, even if it comes in government-issue wrapping paper. As my friend and colleague David Grima of the Maine Department of Labor is prone to point out, seeking the assistance of government programs is just reclaiming some of the money you have already paid in taxes- it’s not taking a hand-out, it’s collecting a dividend on an investment.

Other than inadvertently insulting a bunch of you (I can guarantee I’m going to get emails accusing me of both vulture capitalism and communist sympathies, so I must be doing something right) what am I trying to say here? Simply put, it’s time to put aside prejudices and ad hominem attacks on all sides. We are too small a region with too few of us and too many large challenges to waste energy on a real life pantomime version of a cable TV news show. Government is trying to listen to business. Businesses are a key component of our communities. Our friends and neighbors are not of evil intent just because they disagree with us.

As 2012 begins to gather steam there are efforts under way throughout this region to work on a whole host of issues. However you define yourself in the community I’m begging you to get involved: be it with a public meeting on a downtown plan, through attending a seminar on subsidized training programs designed to connect employers with workforce, or whatever strikes a chord. And when you do get involved, open your eyes, open your eyes, and then open your mouth and add your voice to what could be an incredibly positive and productive conversation.