Carol Eyerman grew up in Portland and graduated from the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree and later earned a degree in Public Policy Management at the USM Muskie Institute.

Early in her career, she worked at Bigelow Lab in Boothbay and was thinking about graduate school and decided that she wanted a job where she had an opportunity to affect policies on land that affect our oceans. At USM she was able to make up her own program and take courses from the many offerings including Marine Law and Oceanography. After taking two classes in planning, she realized “that’s where it happens, that’s where policies get created.”

After graduating, she found planning jobs in Cumberland and then in Pennsylvania. Family brought her back to Maine and she worked in Topsham as a planner addressing the closure of the Brunswick Naval Air Station and later worked as a planner in Harpswell before moving to Gorham in 2020.

Her mother, who had Alzheimer’s, lived in Windham and Eyerman needed to be closer to her. Eyerman was also the President of the Maine Association of Planners and Vice-President of the tri-state regional planning association. All of these efforts earned her Maine Professional Planner of the Year in 2019.

“There have been a lot of challenges in the past 3.5 years and staff have worked very well to overcome all the different issues that have arisen, especially during COVID,” said Eyerman. She is especially proud of helping to implement the Comprehensive Plan, working with the community to get the Little Falls/South Windham master plan adopted, and planning an open space plan through the budget process.

“I can’t wait to start this planning process in the next few months. Working with the community to plan and do the things the townspeople want is the best part of my job.”