FREEPORT – FreeportUSA, the town’s merchants association, has a new executive director with plenty of experience marketing coastal communities.

Janet Dutson, who has served as executive director of chambers of commerce in Belfast and Camden, will now be working to promote Freeport and help connect the group’s members to the thousands of visitors that come to the town each year. In addition to leading the Camden Downtown Business Group, she spearheaded a variety of events in that town, including Maine Fare, the Camden Food and Wine Festival and the Good Life Fest. The public can meet her Thursday, July 26, from 4-6 p.m., at a Freeport USA event at the Harraseeket Inn.

Dutson, 50, grew up in Lewiston and now lives in Portland. She graduated from the University of Maine and joined FreeportUSA at the beginning of June.

She recently took some time to answer some questions from the Tri-Town Weekly about her role in the organization, what brought her to Freeport and what’s coming up for FreeportUSA.

Q: What attracted you to Freeport?

A: Freeport has always had the reputation of being one of Maine’s top destinations. You just can’t beat the shopping atmosphere. Where else can you find national retailers side by side with locally owned boutiques, along with great restaurants and some of Maine’s best lodging establishments. It really does have it all – so I thought it would just be great to take part in all of that.

Q: When it comes to its merchants, what do you think some of the town’s strengths are?

A: Of course, Freeport has become synonymous with L.L. Bean and they are such a generous partner in the community. But, we have the best of both shopping worlds – name-brand outlets and unique, locally owned shops – all within the campus of a beautiful Maine coastal town.

Q: What do you think can be done better to promote Freeport?

A: I think we can do a better job telling people about the diversity of activities in Freeport, which would encourage visitors to (stay) longer. We want to make sure that visitors who come to Freeport know that we’re so much more than shopping. Freeport has a ton of outdoor activities to enjoy, too. We’d like to introduce more people to our gorgeous coast to take part in all the different ways to enjoy the water – from cruises, to kayaking, to paddleboards, not to mention hiking in our parks. Plus, we also have some really enjoyable cultural activities – things like L.L. Bean’s Summer Series, our fabulous new movie theater, local performances at restaurants and cafes, and the historical society’s exhibitions. There really is a lot going on.

Q: What will you do as executive director of Freeport USA to help bring more businesses to the town?

A: We’re about to launch a new website that offers more opportunity to show all there is for visitors to do in and around town, but it’s also a great way to showcase how great it is to do business here. After we launch the site, we’ll be adding information that encourages people to consider opening a business here. Through my work at other business associations in coastal Maine towns, I’ve noticed that oftentimes, people come to visit, then love it so much they decide to move and bring their business along with them. Incorporating a friendly welcome is a great way to tell business owners that we’re here to help.

I also think it’s important to help improve business conditions as a constant work in process. We want to help the small, locally owned businesses increase foot traffic to their stores, and through their success, that encourages new business growth. Aside from that, I’m looking to develop a strong working relationship with the Freeport Economic Development Corp. and the Freeport Area Chamber of Commerce, so we can be sure we have all bases covered when it comes to economic development and creating a healthy business environment.

Q: How will you be promoting Freeport in the coming months?

A: FreeportUSA has a robust marketing agenda that includes web, print and event marketing. We purchase a variety of print ads, including full-page ads in Down East Magazine and Maine Invites You (Maine’s official visitors guide). We have display space at the Portland Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Maine Information Center at Kittery. We also keep front and center in a variety of tourism associations, including the CruiseMaine Coalition, the Maine Motorcoach Association, the Portland Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Maine Innkeepers Association.

Our new freeportusa.com, to be launched later this month, will be a huge boost to us online and a stepping stone to attracting traffic to Freeport from people already online looking to visit Maine. We’re also very active in social media and find it’s a great way to keep people engaged with Freeport. We have a nice presence on the visitportland.com website, including a designated page dedicated to area attractions. We also have a great new video we just had commissioned that tells the story of Freeport from shopping to dining, playing and staying. It just covers it all.

Something else new this year – we are just about to finish our Freeport Event and Meeting Guide, a full-color, bound publication that we’ll use to solicit meeting, events, and conventions to Freeport. We also have a few other great ideas brewing that I’m not ready to talk about – but that’s also what attracted me to FreeportUSA. It’s a dynamic organization that never rests on its laurels. There’s always a new project and more great ideas for promoting Freeport.

Q: How will you work with existing businesses to help them stay strong?

A: I’ll be taking time over the coming months to get out and meet local business owners and managers to hear about the state of their business, and then use that for creating a list of action items for the coming year. We offer our members a whole array of ways they can use our products to market their businesses – our website, email marketing, mobile app, information centers, coupons, welcome bags for motor coaches and cruises. There are so many ways that businesses can use our tools to promote themselves.

We also want to look at ways of encouraging foot traffic to some of the businesses along the outskirts of the main shopping district, and one long-standing idea that has seen a resurgence is the concept of a trolley to help move people around. With the arrival of the train this fall, it will be more important than ever to ensure all businesses can benefit from those excursions.

“I think we can do a better job telling people about the diversity of activities in Freeport,” says Janet Dutson, who leads FreeportUSA. (Courtesy photo)