Presque Isle merchants upbeat about biathlon effect

PRESQUE ISLE – When local organizers were preparing to host the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships, they cited economic development as a major benefit, predicting that the event would have a $4 million impact on the region.

While it’s too soon to know how close actual figures are to that projection, local officials and business owners were positive about the event and the economic impact it had in Aroostook County.

“I think what I saw was there certainly was a large influx of people into the community and the area that we normally wouldn’t have seen,” Presque Isle City Manager Tom Stevens, who served as cultural and festivals committee chairman for the event, said last week. “And just observing people, a lot of them had shopping bags in their hands.”

Organizers estimated that about 250 athletes from nearly 30 countries, hundreds of support staff and thousands of spectators attended the international event held at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3.

Stevens said that while organizers don’t know exact numbers, they do know that many local hotels were full, athletes and support staff were fed on a daily basis, and they shopped.

Trader Joe’s, a clothing store at the Aroostook Centre Mall, did brisk business, seeing double-digit increases in sales during the week.

“The athletes were very excited about what we had to offer for denim,” owner Joe Sleeper said last week. “They liked the American status labels: Levi’s, especially for the girls, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and Polo. … For them, it’s about image.”

Still, Sleeper said he was “very pleasantly surprised” to get the extra business.

“I didn’t anticipate it, but after it came, I said to myself, ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’ They’re all young, high school kids. Where do they hang out? Malls. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did,” he said.

Sleeper said that, as a business owner, he’d love to see similar events in the area.

“It’s exposure,” he said. “Whether it’s a Phish concert or snowmobilers, if they come, we stand a better chance of them coming back, and if they come back, they’ll frequent the mall, the retail sector, hotels and restaurants. But if they’ve never been here, they’re probably not going to come.”

Mike Cyr, owner of Bradley’s Citgo and Convenience Store – a gas station strategically located on the road to the Nordic Heritage Center – agreed about getting more exposure for the region, but said that he saw “very, very, very little” extra business because of the biathlon.

“If I didn’t know it was in town, I never would have noticed it by looking at my receipts,” Cyr said

The business owner said he had anticipated more business because of the expected economic impact, but said he still is hoping to see some indirect returns.

“They [organizers] did a good job with the event. They promoted Presque Isle well. Hopefully, we’ll get residuals from it,” Cyr said. “But this was the Super Bowl of biathlon events for juniors. … If I didn’t get much business with this event, I’m surely not going to get more with future events.”

Still, Cyr said, he’s trusting in the “seven factor,” meaning new money that comes into town will roll over seven times in the community before it leaves.

“So, money that went to a waitress at Slopes, she may come to my store to pay for gas and get a carwash,” Cyr said. “I may not have derived directly, but I may benefit indirectly. And that’s a positive thing, no question about it.”