Maine initiative has County support
Attracting business to locate in The County will be getting a bit easier, thanks to a new initiative being launched in Maine. Dana Connors, president of the Maine Chamber of Commerce & Industry, was in Aroostook recently to start local seeds growing for the economic future of northern Maine.
Maine & Company is a private, non-profit organization that aims to bring together public and private sector partners from all regions of the state, to strengthen Maine's business attraction efforts. It's not a program designated and finely detailed by state government; it's rather the encouragement of networking local resources, businesses and community strengths to 'make the package' visible of the best advantages of doing business in Aroostook County.
Connors was here to inform. Bit by bit, business by business, and community by community, each resource in The County can grow to be a part of what this program hopes to be. It truly doesn't exist until people come together to provide the networking base that will be its strength.
This story will start unfolding in the next few months as staffing and basic organizational parameters are put in place. Contacts made by Connors will, in turn, increase their contacts among County entities. The local support for future planning will come from the group that develops. By early 1996, he hopes to get busy on the actual process of the marketing effort that he anticipates will bring new, solid growth to Aroostook.
Maine & Company, says Connors, is founded on a premise that the private sector is a willing and able partner. It recognizes that Maine, and The County, has a lot of offer. It says that successful business recruitment efforts require both public and private sector participation and services.
The idea is simple, yet relatively new. We need to work together to bring about positive change. Connors' premise says that it won't work otherwise.
Leveraging existing economic development activities and assets is a strong part of the partnership. Communication will be first. Talk about the positives, share ideas and give some deep thought to the possibilities for our future.
Think about how you, your business or your organization might contribute its resources and strengths. Maine & Company needs to draw from every local source, from Fort Kent to Houlton, to pull together a County climate that means business.
There will be news to report shortly about the new initiative. The important thing to know right now is that there's a ground swell coming and it's worth defining values, dreams and hopes that put us in the right time and place. Our chance is coming to be part of something we can hang our hats on - and the belief that we'll be tossing our hats in the air with cheers of success in the future. Stay tuned.
