Staff Writer
HOULTON — The town of Houlton is always looking to expand its diversity in the economic development field. From downtown merchants to North Street retail and industrial manufacturing, no avenue is ignored and no business ventures are overlooked. Keep the community viable and strong and keep the economy rolling — what else could you ask for? Wade Hanson is the Community Development Director for the town of Houlton and he said he’s looking for employment opportunities for a sustainable, viable economy, or something better.
“I’m looking at the community and its needs as a whole … from a development perspective, the municipality is really on the cusp of breaking free from that perception that nothing’s really happening in Houlton,” explained Hanson. “North Street is the focus for a number of potential retail developments coming in, we’re having some serious negotiation with some manufacturing entities, and some service-based entities from the downtown area, as well as Bangor Street area.”
Hanson has assumed the role of the town’s community development director, as well as grant writer and planner, a position previously held by Don Keiser, who retired last June. Hanson said he takes his mission seriously and intends to keep the ball rolling and continue to bring success to the Shiretown.
“Don did an outstanding job,” said Hanson. “My role is to assess the community and its needs for employment opportunities for sustainable, viable economy. And to ensure that people can get through day-to-day in today’s society and live a healthy lifestyle.”
Hanson said he is looking to expand the town’s diversity in the manufacturing field and looking for individuals who are interested in coming to a small area.
“There really isn’t a big industrial-type setting in rural Maine right now,” said Hanson. “We’re trying to focus on the smaller groups of 10 to 15 to 25 individuals that are really going to help the economy and provide service to all of Aroostook County.”
Hanson said the larger employers are no longer in the manufacturing business — in fact, it’s just the opposite. Houlton’s big employers are Houlton Regional Hospital, Madigan Estates, Visiting Nurses of Aroostook and the Community Living Association to name a few. He said those are jobs that are going to continue to grow in demand.
“Those entities are the diamond in the rough for the town of Houlton,” he said. “They’re very large employers. Those are all very strong, well-paying entities in and around the community that are great assets.”
Economically, some areas are feeling tension from rising fuel costs and fewer manufacturing jobs. Hanson said he sees Houlton in a better position than most rural communities, if not the rest of the state.
“If I had a crystal ball to look into, I think we’re going to thrive more so than the rest of the county, mostly due to our location and the transportation opportunities that we have here, as well as the administration that we have working for us right now,” he said. “They have a great perspective on what needs to happen to keep the community going.
“We need to keep an open mind as it comes to tourism and to transportation, to manufacturing, to all of those opportunities,” he added. “One of the areas that we really need to focus on is the communities that are across the border. We have a population that is 10 miles away from us that has all of the needs and wants that we do here in this area.
“We need to focus on that very highly,” he said.
Hanson said a key opportunity for the town involves the ports that are available on the Canadian side. He said, most of their transportation goes to the Montreal and Toronto area and those ports are shipping north of Maine and then shipping south to the New England areas.
“We see Houlton as an opportunity to skirt some of that transportation … with one of the largest access ports on the Canadian and New England border gives great opportunity for development,” he said.
Hanson said he felt good things were going to come to the area and community and economic development were going to thrive.
“We are doing fantastic,” he said. “I think the town of Houlton has not been impacted as much as the rest of the country simply due to our diversity and our lack of dependency on the rest of the nation. Obviously, fuel prices are going to affect everything no matter where you look or what you’re doing, but we have always had the ability to come through it and find ways … we don’t seem to spike in the valley as much as the rest of the country. We seem to roll along and take the good with the bad and taking what’s available to us.”
