The Maine Development Foundation (MDF) presented its 2000 Champion for Economic Growth Award to Bates College at the organization's 22nd annual meeting held in Lewiston on Sept. 12.

Accepted by President Donald W. Harward, the award cited Bates, under the direction of its president, for strengthening its relationship with the Lewiston/Auburn community. The culmination of this commitment, according to the foundation, resulted in L/A Excels, a community-based project of revitalization and aspiration. Maine Governor Angus King has called L/A Excels "the most extensive community development project in the history of the state." Harward, project founder and prime mover and shaker of L/A Excels, sees the same picture, calling the organization "heroic in scope." Most recently, L/A Excels has hired the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Research Associates to conduct an area feasibility study for a conference center and regional center for the Arts in Lewiston-Auburn.

MDF champions sustainable, long-term economic growth for Maine and serves as a catalyst for supporting leadership, higher education and the development of new approaches to solve problems. Past award recipients are L.L. Bean, Bath Iron Works, The Maine Chamber of Commerce and Envisionet.