On Jan. 18, Rick Prose will officially start his new position as executive director of the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce.

“I, as a former business owner in Boothbay Harbor, was a member of the chamber and served on the board of directors for five years, as vice-president one year and president two years,” Prose said. “I have an intimate knowledge of how the Chamber works and what good it can do as an advocate for local businesses.”

Prose first came to the Boothbay region in 1987 when a friend of his bought a boat and needed help working on it. Prose, a boat builder, was ready and willing.

“I just fell in love with the area,” Prose said. “I kept coming back. I bought a boat and kept it there in Boothbay Harbor even though I was living in southern Maine at the time.”

In 1999, he and his wife, the Rev. Barbara Prose, moved to the region. For the past few years, he has been working and living in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he worked for Habitat for Humanity. His professional career has also included managing coastal resorts, working with local access TV, and founding lowernine.org, which brought professional builders and volunteers to help with the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans.

Prose said two of his big concerns for the region are economic development and keeping young people in the area.

“I've been beating this drum for a long time,” he said. “We need to look at ways we can create year-round jobs in Boothbay Harbor. The Chamber does a great job with seasonal ways to bring people here, but unless you want to wait tables or change beds, jobs are scarce. I have kids who would love to stay here but there are better jobs elsewhere.”

Prose said he thinks the answer is focusing on small manufacturing businesses, rather than seasonal businesses.

“It's a beautiful place to live, why wouldn't you like to set up shop here,” Prose said. “People who do a lot of web-based Internet business would find an ideal location here, and it would create real jobs. From 2000 to 2010, Boothbay Harbor lost 1.5 percent of its population. We're on track to lose more because older people move here, and there are no jobs to keep young people in the area.”

Prose also said that he wants to hear from Chamber members what ideas they have for economic development, and that he will be joining the Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Economic Development Committee. Currently, Lorna Webber, Board President, is sitting on the committee.

“I want people to know I’m not trying or have some kind of big agenda,” Prose said. “I want to get in to the job working with businesses members, and try to see what we can do to promote economic vitality as a group.”