Libra Foundation official sees biathlon success

PRESQUE ISLE – When Owen Wells visited the Nordic Heritage Center during the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships on Thursday, he kept using the words “overwhelming” and “breathtaking.”

Wells, the president and chief executive officer of the Libra Foundation, was in Presque Isle on Thursday afternoon to see the venue, where local volunteer officials were hosting their first-ever world-class biathlon event.

The Libra Foundation has infused more than $20 million into the Maine Winter Sports Center, funding that was used to build the Presque Isle venue and the 10th Mountain Ski Center in Fort Kent, among other projects.

“I’ve been here four to five times previously,” Wells said Thursday of the Nordic Heritage Center. “But to see the flags of so many nations and to see the people of so many nations here is breathtaking.”

Wells sees efforts in the state – such as the Biathlon Junior World Championship that is being held for the first time in the United States, and the U.S. Biathlon Association move to Maine – as “the beginning of a movement whereby Maine will be the center of biathlon in the U.S.”

But, he quickly added, things weren’t always moving in this direction.

Less than 10 years ago, Wells said, he didn’t know much about biathlon, or Aroostook County for that matter.

That all changed after Andy Shepard, who then worked for L.L. Bean, attended his son’s state championship ski meet in Fort Kent in 1998.

“The difference between what I had imagined from the stereotype, and what I actually experienced was profound,” Shepard, the chief executive officer of the Maine Winter Sports Center, said Thursday.

Shepard said he and Max Cobb, now the marketing director for the U.S. Biathlon Association, had been working together on a sustainable economic model for rural communities in Maine. They chose Aroostook County as the location where it would all begin.

“If we were going to focus on some place that we felt we could make a difference, this was the place,” Shepard said. “Spending time here and seeing the sense of community solidified that for me.”

In the spring of 1998, Shepard and Cobb put together a proposal for the Libra Foundation. In April 1999, the Maine Winter Sports Center received its first grant, topping more than $1 million, to put the plan into action. That year they began construction of the 10th Mountain Ski Center, and a year later, work was under way for the Nordic Heritage Center.

With the success of the 2004 Biathlon World Cup in Fort Kent, and the 2006 championships in Presque Isle, Shepard said that both venues have proven their worth.

“They’ve clearly demonstrated that they are capable of hosting any skiing event as well as anyone in the world,” he said. “It’s no longer a question of if they’re capable but how often they want to host events of this size.”

Scott Arndt, Nordic Heritage Ski Club president, said Thursday that the 2006 championships are by far the largest biathlon event the center has hosted.

“This is definitely different from a cross-country skiing event,” Arndt said. “This is a lot more volunteer-intensive, and there are many more rules that need to be followed, primarily because of the [shooting] range. The fact that we can handle all of that as a club will position us to look at hosting more large-scale biathlon events in the future.”

From the club perspective, Arndt said, the event has been effective already because it “will generate more interest in all the activities we do.”

“The club has two goals: to position ourselves to host future world-class events, and to demonstrate to the local communities that the Nordic Heritage Ski Club serves that this is a great place for them to come and participate in not just biathlon but other outdoor activities beyond being just spectators. We want people to come out here and be active.”

Both Shepard and Arndt agree that biathlon-centered organizations in the area still face challenges, but to be able to show off to Wells what local officials and the community have done so far makes them very proud.

“You always want to be able to show off what you’ve been up to when you can put your best foot forward,” Shepard said. “And looking out over the crowd and the stadium, it’s hard to imagine being able to show it off any better than now.”

And Wells seemed quick to agree with that.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled with what’s been done with the money we put in here,” he said. “It could have been money wasted, but it’s not. It’s been a catalyst for economic development in this region.”