Disrupting the norm in northern Maine
By Tim Lavin
Restoring the economy in northern Maine is not going to be a result of a sudden and unexplained influx of big box corporate stores and chain restaurants. We will rise or continue to fall based on our ability to develop a culture that encourages organic growth and the attraction of entrepreneurship. And who wants big box stores anyway?
Let’s face it, outside of friendly neighbors, a world-class outdoor recreational infrastructure, the best potatoes and broccoli on the planet and a handful of thriving business, either big or small, the outlook for northern Maine is bad, en route to terrible. Aroostook County seems to perpetually stumble along with increasingly mind-blowing entitlement levels, sky-high taxes, rocketing unemployment and an ever-dwindling population. At some point something has got to give.
The good news? This isn’t our fate – we can stand up, work together and make real changes. But to do so, we must disrupt the norm.
In December, 2012 Maine was deemed by Forbes Magazine as the worst state for business. Whereas northern Maine has the poorest performing economy in the state, this gives us the dubious honor of being the flat worst business destination in the United States of America (let that soak in for a minute). This is our wake-up call – it’s high time for us to find the root of the problem and then attack it, head-on.
I believe this is how we head out onto the road of recovery:
• Create a Vision for Northern Maine — Do we all agree that we have a problem and that things are getting worse, not better? If so, the old “if you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always gotten” adage is suitable for us! So what is a reasonable vision for the next 5-10 years?
I offer the following three points as tangible, reachable goals, which can easily be committed to memory, recited and used to hold our government and economic development leaders accountable: decrease unemployment by 1/4 basis point per year until we are below the State average; slow population shrinkage yearly until it stops and is replaced with growth; and increase per capita income until it is no less than 90 percent of the state average.
I suspect that some reading this might chuckle. They might think the audacious idea of northern Maine becoming prosperous again is a fantasy, and I’m nothing but a dreamer. So allow me to shine a light on Perryville, Missouri, population 8,500. A city about the size of Presque Isle, Perryville received a much more respectable mention in Forbes magazine recently. By disrupting the norm, unemployment dropped from about 10 percent to 5 percent in less than a decade. City and economic development leaders helped create a hub of business and culture that continues to grow and thrive. What’s the secret sauce? “Perryville’s fortunes seem to stem from its location, a competent economic development authority and decades of business-friendly elected representatives, said city officials, business leaders and local experts …” (ref: Forbes magazine August, 2012).
• Disrupt the Norm — Let’s hold our state-funded economic development leadership responsible by establishing metrics by which to measure their performance related to use of taxpayer dollars. If the metrics show success, let’s reward them. If the metrics show failure, let’s replace them. These hard earned taxpayer dollars intended to stimulate job growth in this region are precious, and the stewards responsible for their oversight should be fairly evaluated.
Pay-for-performance among paid government officials and taxpayer funded economic development organizations is necessary and logical. This idea should be fleshed out and implemented forthwith. Join me in demanding that our local, county and state elected officials make this a reality.
• Incubate Entrepreneurship — Let’s make Presque Isle the start-up capital of Maine. Let’s develop a culture that celebrates success and helps entrepreneurs brush themselves off and keep going when they stumble.
Through cooperation with existing economic development organizations, I propose the formation of an investment group focused solely on challenging and rewarding homegrown entrepreneurship. This is about more than opening another local restaurant or small business; I suggest it’s about scalable ideas that could have global relevance. Who has a great idea for the next big iPhone app? How about a software program, manufacturing process, or energy source that would garner a worldwide customer base? There is a ton of genius in northern Maine, let’s leverage our resources to expose it.
Community involvement and good old fashioned competition is what makes northern Maine special. Let’s tap into those strengths with a venue designed to illuminate, foster and reward ingenuity.
I love northern Maine. I was born and raised here, and I hope to die here. I want to do my part to help get us back on our collective feet. It breaks my heart to see the teeming economy of yesterday replaced with poverty and apathy. We’ve survived this long by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, and that is commendable. But aren’t we sick of just surviving? Northern Maine needs leaders who will embrace fresh ideas and swear off the practices that have failed us for so long. Leaders who will rally our community together through transparency, integrity, accountability and an easy articulated and tightly focused vision of a better tomorrow.
This isn’t to say that we don’t have some outstanding leadership in Aroostook County. And I am well aware that there are many programs and institutions designed to do what I’ve touched on here, and more. I acknowledge that a lot of productive volunteer work is ongoing and has been effective (I do much myself). And I know that northern Maine is in many ways unique in its struggle. All of that said, our downward spiral continues and it’s my argument is that it is time to disrupt the norm. It’s time to get serious about turning around “our neck of the woods.”
Let’s start the conversation.
Tim Lavin of Presque Isle is CEO of BalanceBPO in Presque Isle. He can be reached at 540-1281 or via e-mail at tlavin@balancebpo.com.
