2001 ERA Conference and Meeting Facility Analysis

Economics Research Associates (ERA) completed a Conference and Meeting Facility Analysis in February, 2001 for LA Excels. The study was to "evaluate the development potentials of the project."
ERA found the following competitive attributes, the positive:

• Central location within Maine
• Excellent regional road access
• Availability of local demand generators

and the negative:

• Residual "mill town" image
• Small concentration of state/federal employees
• Size and quality of hotel/motel inventory
• Lack of direct air access
• Availability of visitor amenities and services
• Proxmity to Augusta and Portland.

Based on their analysis, ERA felt that L-A could capture a greater share of the state and regional meetings market and could accommodate state/regional conventions, trade and consumer shows and local non-meeting events.
ERA suggested the following building program:

• Total building: 35,000-40,000 SF
• Exhibit/Ballroom: 12,000-20,000 SF
• Meeting Rooms: 15 high-quality rooms, 10,000 SF
• Need minimum 2.4 acres
• Provision for parking 525 cars

The study can be found here. There are three appendices: Appendix A, Appendix B, and Appendix C.

This study was updated in 2003 and 2007 using the same methodology.


At the same time they did a Regional Center for the Arts Analysis. In that study, they found demand for (among other things):

• Two new performance spaces, one 200-400 seat space designed for theatrical performances and one 300-500 seat acoustical space designed for orchestral and choral performances.

Mike Carey
Lewiston