I continue to wonder what will happen to Caribou the next dozen years or so. Being not quite ready to box ourselves up completely yet, and since we do all live in Caribou, I look down Sweden St, and stew about what should we be doing as a community, as partners in our own destiny. Surely we recognize if we sit on the sidelines and watch it all go by, it will keep thru, to other communities above or below us? We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines, we need to be active participants in how Caribou will be ten years from now.
So this week I went over the USDA’s Seven Strategies for Economic Development (in rural communities). The first premise they espouse, is we cannot look just within our own community to “make it happen,” we need to think as a region, and draw on each others resources, and work on ways to compliment each other. Build strong strategic alliances: strength in numbers.
Are we being good team players? Do we want to be team players with our neighbors in The County?
Something of an aside, did you know this is the 50th year for the Potato Pickers Special on WAGM? Yes, the CCC&I is a sponsor this year: we need to celebrate and support our local farmers. Bringing me to, Oh Yea, who has the McCain’s Champion growers this year? We do! Caribou: The Irvings! Congratulate them when you see them, we knew they were awesome even before this, but a little celebrating does a soul good!
Capital markets is another marker identified by the USDA, and there’s a tough one — the infusion of new investment opportunities. APP we need you to have a big win, be it for Caribou directly, or the neighbors at the LDA, etc, we need you to have a win!
Regional food systems is the fourth marker. Aha, bringing me back to agriculture! The Ayers, Goughans, McElwains, Blackstones, Skoniecznys, and of course our neighbors just a bit south — the very lovely Stewarts, need our support. Farm stands are not just great things, they also bring us back together in terms of communication, and fostering the illusive “Community Building” (the fifth marker identified as crucial in terms of economic development strategies). Know your farmer, know the farmer and their family that grew your cabbage (Timmy G’s: a stand out now just by Reno’s: just a dollar a cabbage, come on, who doesn’t eat cabbage rolls?)!
We must concentrate on building markets for sustainable local agriculture. Shop local, eat locally grown foods! Skoniesczny corn, ummmnnnn!
Regional collaboration also a marker, seems to me to be just another shade of two previous markers: the strategic partners and community building, but nevertheless. I am sure it’s instilling in ourselves the desire to be a community which is key to these variations on “working together.”
Years ago now, John Morrill used to tell a story fairly regularly about, “it’s not what the chamber can do for me, it’s what can I do for the chamber?” I think the philosophy has to be the same for the community, we can’t sit on the sidelines, and wonder was is the town going to do for us. We need to participate, and think about what we can do to help improve our town, our Caribou. Communities are made of people first, people need each other.
Communities aren’t the bricks and mortar and infrastructure (although I really appreciate my plumbing Mr. Hitchcock), they aren’t just the stores or houses in town. Communities are people. Economic development is people, not isolated businesses, making a product in a vacuum, or trying to sell their products independent of all their neighbors.
The last two markers were alternative energy, and high speed broadband. The reduce, reuse, recycle in me cheered, and since we were visited by various entities last week encouraging competition in the World Wide Web access, I had to laugh. Competition is good, so if you receive visits from different providers in the next month or so, I think we shouldn’t groan too badly, access is crucial to growth, and competition is good stuff, so bring on the sales people!
Finally, if you had some interest in the full length article of any of these you can (if you have access) check them out at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/RD_EconomicDevelopment.html. Otherwise, buy some local produce, congratulate an Irving, and think about what we can do together to make Caribou what we want it to be!
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.
