After an on-and-off search for a couple of years, Gouldsboro has hired a former finance director for the city of Ellsworth as its new town manager.
Joshua McIntyre, a native of Ellsworth, is starting in his new post on March 1, according to town officials.
McIntyre served as Ellsworth’s finance director for a little more than a year, from June 2021 to August 2022, but left that job to take a position as vice president of capital management for Evernorth, a nonprofit economic development group based in Portland. McIntyre previously worked for four years in various finance positions for Eastern Maine Development Corp. in Bangor.
McIntyre said he was interested in the Gouldsboro job because of the area’s natural beauty and working fishing villages.
“The people are genuine and hard-working,” he said. “And I am impressed by the commitment of the Select Board to maintain the character of the community while accommodating growth.”
McIntyre takes over the position from longtime town official Yvonne Wilkinson, who returned to the post in 2021 after having retired in 2015. From 2015 to 2021, Gouldsboro had three other town managers, with Wilkinson often serving interim stints in between.
Dana Rice, Gouldsboro’s longtime first selectman, said several candidates have been interviewed over the years.
“Josh McIntyre just impressed me as somebody that would fit the town’s needs in all respects,” Rice said. “He comes very well-qualified and experienced, and I feel he can step in and fill Eve’s shoes very well.”
One major challenge in recent years has been trying to fill the economic gap left behind when the longtime Stinson Seafood sardine cannery in the village of Prospect Harbor shut down in 2010.
The plant was the last sardine cannery in the country, but attempts to find new seafood processing operations to fill the space have either been relatively short lived or, in the case of a proposal to process farmed salmon, have not materialized.
The latest hope for the sardine cannery is to subdivide it into various marine-related uses, but redevelopment has yet to take off.
Town officials said they hope McIntyre’s background in finance and economic development will help attract commercial activity back to the site.
“Businesses drive economic growth, and I believe my public and private sector experience with both small and large companies will be an asset to the community,” McIntyre said. “I have an understanding of what factors help businesses thrive and I know what public and foundation resources are available.”