Economic sustainability at Caribou Chamber

    During the last few years the push has been on to try to make the Caribou Chamber of Commerce & Industry self sustaining. We have “up’d” the fees on all our annual events to this end, and we’ve kicked around a variety of things which “just chambers” and “just economic development agencies” do to raise funds for services: including fees for loan closings, application processing, and new fund-raisers such as “holiday programs,” and we’ve raised all the fees for UPS and credit card processing.     We think about calendars (oh my, and who would be which month, goodness gracious), bake sales (I do not cook, neither do the cats, and you wouldn’t want their cookies even if they did), and car washes (who is going to stand next to the road with the billboard again?). I considered taking my interest in balloons “up a notch,” and we could lease ourselves out as variations on the Shriner clowns: parties, programs, events. Rent a Chamber Clown(s) for your next special event: oh yea.
    So perhaps without actually seeing us, you can see in your mind’s eye why we haven’t started offering these new services. We have long tried to make sure advertising in our events, programs and newsletters are inexpensive, with the pervasive thought being, it’s a good way to reach everyone without spending funds the business may not have, to get the word out. We have long tried not to compete with the local clubs and organizations as they try to fund-raise for their local projects, but rather to help them increase their exposure and monies raised for their worthy causes. We don’t bill people for copies (unless it’s several hundred, and then we charge them cost), faxes, an occasional phone call, photo, or some other item they might need, like, want as they come through on other business. We typically offer some hard candy at the door, and occasionally some really good coffee (mornings are best, stop by before 10 a.m.). We try to have stickers, or other cute, inexpensive bauble for the little ones who may come to visit as their person fills out paperwork for the yard sale, or some other event.
    As you consider other “chamber events” which make monies: Van Buren has placemats they do for area restaurants, PI has strawberry shortcake sales, baked potatoes at Potato Blossom, Fort Fairfield, Madawaska, Fort Kent and Houlton have trade shows, and Houlton has the holiday flyers (which we have begun to “hootch” and duplicate). Although I profess to not cook, I really am in favor of baked potatoes, and think we may just ought to try it a few times! All potatoes are good potatoes! But as you know, we’re biased!
    In terms of the economic developers, PI has land they lease (apples to oranges again), and we’ve historically been charged to not compete with the locals with regard to commercial spaces, so perhaps buying a few buildings and then competing with the locals for renters wouldn’t be keen on some lists.
    So, we haven’t come up with anything especially lucrative or viable in a serious sense for fund-raisers to become more self sustaining. We’re looking around though, and those of us who aren’t young and flexible are at the least noisy enough to attract some attention at your next event. There’s no one easy solution, and no single money tree, but we do have our money-raising hats on. We’re looking for input and we aren’t afraid to get dirty.
    Ah, one last unrelated thought for the road, do you know we’re campaigning to have Mike Rowe with “Dirty Jobs” come to Aroostook for potato harvest? Yes, it’s true: we’re dogging him on Twitter and Facebook, and we’re hoping everyone else will too. Our pitch is, “Hey Mike, we’re dirty too, come to The County for potato harvest.” While we might like him to visit a Caribou farm of course, we’d settle for some joint venture with any other of the potato farmers in Aroostook, and be featured on “Dirty Jobs”! We have thought we might need to add some “poo.” Do you watch regularly? Mike’s producers seem fond of “poo,” but that’s fine, we’ll do whatever we have to, to get him here and have him be suitably dirtied up to feature County potato farmers.
    Wendy Landes, MPA, is the executive director of the Caribou Chamber of Commerce & Industry. She can be reached in person at 24 Sweden Street, Suite 101; by telephone at 498-6156 or via e-mail at wlandes@cariboumaine.net.