Staff Writer
Everyone knows that northern Maine needs more jobs and higher quality jobs — Aroostook youths are settling down elsewhere and the county’s population has been decreasing since the ‘60s. Rather than idly speculating about better wages and the necessity of more jobs, the Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP) and the Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) have joined forces for the implementation of the Mobilize Maine initiative, which aims to thoroughly and timely identify poignant reasons why businesses should beneficially take root in Aroostook County. Once a strong case has been assembled as to why a business should take advantage of the resources available in Aroostook County, APP can then present that plan to prospective businesses as a highly proactive means of job creation.
“Mobilize Maine is an initiative that focuses on attracting and creating economic opportunity throughout the County by identifying the indigenous resources available while simultaneously building from them,” said Mike Eisensmith, economic development director at NMDC. “While Mobilize Maine focuses inward, APP is exploring outward, talking to prospective businesses and individuals outside of the county and state about why Aroostook County is a great place to do business.”
It’s a carefully thought out two-pronged approach that works with the area’s strengths.
Aroostook County may be famous for its dedicated workers and natural resources, but specific reasons as to why a businessniche can be a success need to be identified in order to overcome some of the equally well known drawbacks of conducting business in The County — specifically high business expenses, transportation costs, the relative instability of the business climate and the distance of Maine from U.S. population centers.
Compelling evidence can be used by APP to promote business in Aroostook County.
The Mobilize Maine initiative and the workinggroups created to achieve the initiative’s goals have carved their way through a mountain of ideas and are currently whittling down two primary industry clusters specifically focusing on the appealing and compelling reasons why Aroostook County is a great place to do business.
The workinggroups have identified renewable energy and information technology as two areas where Aroostook County has ample resources and the ability to leverage those resources for additional economic opportunities in Aroostook County; industry leaders of both areas will be meeting on Jan. 20 and 21 to further hone in on the two identified industry niches.
“Ultimately, we will be able to take these compelling factors to prospective businesses and say ‘these are the reasons why we know you will be profitable in Aroostook County,’” said Walt Elish, APP president and CEO.
Make no mistake, Mobilize Maine is no misnomer; the initiative has had a deadline set from the beginning and the working-groups have taken strides to ensure that deadline is met, meeting monthly and bimonthly when necessary to keep the initiative steadily moving forward.
The initiative results, or business case, will be presented during the APP annual meeting in June.
Some may question the two clusters selected for development, however the mobilize Maine team believes that these two industries provide the opportunities to meet the short term and long term goals to ultimately enhance the county’s economy.
“We know that agriculture and wood products have been a staple in our economy,” Elish said, “and we intend to explore those industries further as well; the goal is to look at other industry sectors that could bring economic benefit to Aroostook County.”
