SADC examines economic development

HOULTON – For the past five years, the Southern Aroostook Development Corp. has worked to improve the economic base of Houlton and surrounding towns. Now, officials say, they are at a crossroads, looking to complete important future projects while facing fiscal constraints. During a two-hour forum on Thursday evening, group members hashed over what to do about it.

More than 25 people attended the first of two planning meetings, in which officials tried to “set an agenda for the future of SADC,” according to Chris Anderson, the group’s president. No action was taken at the meeting, but the group will host a second planning session on Nov. 3.

During the two-hour meeting, Anderson touched on the final report of an economic development and strategic marketing plan for southern Aroostook that was released in March. Houlton town councilors adopted the blueprint, which is geared toward stimulating the regional economy, later that month. Since then, however, little action has been taken by groups deemed responsible for rolling out the plan.

The report offers tips such as creating a “brand” to market the town, spurring new construction in the historic downtown and developing Houlton as an American-Canadian trade service center. The plan designated several groups responsible for carrying out the suggestions, including the town, SADC and the local chamber of commerce.

Anderson noted in a letter to SADC stakeholders that the momentum generated from a marketing and planning meeting hosted by former Town Manager Peggy Daigle “has the potential to languish without proper leadership.” Daigle, who became city manager of Old Town in September, was a strong advocate for SADC.

Interim Town Manager Phil McCarthy said at the meeting that it was very important for someone to step to the plate to move the strategic marketing plan forward.

“It is going to take some entity to have it as their charge,” he emphasized on Thursday evening. “We need someone to move it forward … that has to happen.”

Audience members had numerous suggestions for how the group could propel itself, and the local economy, forward.

Dale Flewelling, chairman of the Town Council, asked Anderson whether SADC had ever considered partnering with local American Indian groups.

“They have a tremendous amount of resources,” he noted. “Have they been approached? Maybe it is time … I think it would be a healthy partnership.”

Town Councilor Kent Good told the group that he believed that the Southern Aroostook Cultural Arts Project, a collective of area artists, could be instrumental in helping the town “brand” itself and develop a strong arts base. Don Keiser, grant writer and planning administrator for the town, pointed out that a study to examine options on how to reinvigorate the downtown was already under way.

No decisions were made on the men’s suggestions at the meeting.

The group’s next meeting will focus on its fiscal future, which could be in jeopardy if the 1 percent tax cap referendum is approved in November. If taxes are capped at $10 per $1,000 valuation as the measure proposes, members of a local tax cap council maintain that they would be unable to fund outside groups, including SADC, some youth programs and the local library.

Last year, SADC received $20,000 from the town of Houlton.