While the national news on the economy is all about falling stock prices and the collapse of the mortgage market, locally we’ve got a few reasons to be excited.

Monday night the Scarborough Planning Board approved the first major development on the Haigis Parkway, the centerpiece of the town’s economic development strategy.

The Gateway at Scarborough is expected to include 438,000 square feet of retail, office and hotel space, where 800 people will be employed, according to developers. The project is expected to attract 3 million visitors, who will be buying more than $100 million of merchandise.

The largest of the retail tenants in the project will be a 130,000-square-foot Cabela’s, an outdoor sporting goods store. The store will be the first in Maine for the Nebraska-based company.

While plenty of challenges remain – managing the massive amount of traffic that will be drawn to the new stores, for example – the completion of the planning stage of the development is a cause for celebration and a reason for optimism about what’s in store for Scarborough’s business community – growth. That growth can help offset the demands that have been placed upon the tax base by the town’s increasing residential population in town, and it can also help the businesses that are already here thrive.

The fact that many businesses in town are already thriving was reinforced this week. Three of them will be recognized as “outstanding role models of entrepreneurship,” according to John Massua, the state director of the Maine Small Business Development Centers. Maine Warmers, the Freaky Bean Coffee Co. and Maine Molecular Controls Inc. were among 50 businesses from around the state to receive the honors.

There was also promising economic news this week out of South Portland, where developer Andrew Ingalls is proposing a three story office complex on Waterman Drive at the site of Beale Street Barbeque and Grill.

While residents who live near the site of the proposed development have concerns about whether a four-story building will match the character of the neighborhood, the fact that a developer is interested in redeveloping the site is good news for South Portland. Ingalls, who recently moved his office from downtown Portland to Ocean Street in South Portland, doesn’t think he’ll have any trouble finding tenants.

He said all the office space on the Portland waterfront is full, so those who want a waterfront office are looking in South Portland, and he said he’s already been contacted by several restaurant owners interested in the space that would be available on the ground floor. That’s why Ingalls is prepared to submit a three-story design for the building if the four-story concept is rejected.

“No matter what happens, we’re building something,” he said.

We should all share in the enthusiasm of Ingalls, because there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the local economy in the news this week.

Brendan Moran, editor

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