Chamber makes City Wide plans

    Final plans for Caribou’s First Commercial City Wide Open House is happening now! On Saturday, May 22nd from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. we’re going to be have an open house for everyone’s commercial spaces for sale or rent!     This idea germinated from Joe Sleeper during a meeting the Planning Board had last November with the Downtown Building Owners regarding first floor commercial usage. Several planning board members were quite interested in seeing the idea come to fruition, and as the Keepers of that Hat, we are planning to do just that! We began soliciting building owners, realtors, bankers, SBA, SBDC and others at the beginning of April to be a part of the event, and we’re fast closing in on this event! It is not too late however, if you’re an interested party (my ladies in the office who make the flyers and do the ads cringe and are fairly ugly with me when I say it but …) call us, stop in and we’ll make sure you have a spot!
    I had a bit of criteria to consider as we began begging folks to help us “sell” Caribou on May 22nd which I’d like to reiterate.
• You have a vacant building/commercial space and we might help steer a prospective client in your direction … the cost to be on the map is $150, plus a person(s) at your commercial properties the day of the event.
• You may be directly associated to a link in the chain of folks who will help make the previously mentioned client/businessperson/entrepreneur/developer decide Caribou is the place to be, and might like a “space” at our centralized location for the day (the Wellness Center) … the space will be free, you just need to have a representative(s) there to speak to folks!
• You may be one of our largest employers, businesses, or a key cog in the Caribou wheel, offering amenities unique to the community, and who better to speak to prospective business people, than those already here, doing business in Caribou? This is an essential component in my estimation. We are ourselves our own best sales folks. Why are we here? We believe in Caribou and we care about Caribou!
• You may be interested in speaking at an appointed time during the Open House, at the central location to those who’re interested in your product/service/area of expertise. The advertising spots on the maps cost $35 or $60 for a double spot. We had a limited number of 24 spots, and they’ve sold fairly well but if you want in: Call us – we’ll make room for you!
    We purchased advertising with Maine Biz, and we’ve spent a bit of funds with the locals as well. The funds received from those marketing their commercial spaces will pay for the Maine Biz pieces. We have a few “fun” things planned to welcome folks as they come to Caribou that weekend (keep your eyes open), but we need everyone’s help.
    Marketing Caribou is an ongoing endeavor of ours at the Caribou Chamber of Cmmerce & Industry, but it’s also an ongoing process with every single person in our community. It isn’t even just about everyone with a property to sell or lease cleaning up and sprucing up, it’s about a mindset and an attitude which is intangible and unable to be purchased by money. We’re anxious for May 22nd, we hope you all are too!     Wendy Landes, MPA, is the executive director of the Caribou Chamber of Commerce & Industry. She can be reached in person at 24 Sweden Street, Suite 101; by telephone at 498-6156 or via e-mail at wlandes@cariboumaine.net.