This was a wonderful week for the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce. We had two grand openings for businesses that have added 15 to 20 jobs to our area in Frontier Pharmacy and The Northern Lighthouse, Inc. And we picked up four new members: Frontier Pharmacy, Precision Lawn Services, Inc., TD Bank and a personal membership.
If two grand openings and four new members weren’t enough, lots of folks signed up for the Caribou City-Wide Yard Sale and two crafters signed up for the Fall Arts & Craft Show. Add in seeing two bald eagles that flew right over the roof so low that I could see every feather and their glorious white heads and tails and it does not get much better than that. What a week!
Add in to all this good news that the Caribou Planning Board also agreed to put an amended sign ordinance out to public hearing. The proposed ordinance amending Section 13-700-29 would benefit Caribou businesses and reduce some of the hindrances they have of their customers finding them. The public will have lots of availability to discuss this amended ordinance so stay tuned to the Aroostook Republican for upcoming public hearings. From the Chamber’s standpoint, anything (within practical and safe reason) that can make it easier for our businesses to conduct themselves is a positive for the city and for Chamber members.
I was pleased to see two positive signs in last week’s paper for our construction industry. First, J.P. Martin & Sons Construction Corp. was given the winning bid on a $6 million addition to the NMCC Wellness Center. Then I saw an ad in the paper that Soderberg Construction Inc. was hiring construction workers. That is great news.
The bidding period is now concluded and a timeline is in place as the Chamber begins the process of creating a new Caribou map. As mentioned here before, the old map became obsolete when the new connecter road was completed and opened. We are hoping to have the new map by early July. There are 35 ad placements available for this 10,000 printing run, so please call if you are interested.
Plans are well under way for the Annual Recognition Dinner and the Maine Hog Rally. Time is getting short, so if you would like to nominate a person or business for one of the recognition awards, please get that to me as quickly as possible.
As good at this week was, there was one bad moment that made me very mad at myself. It all started on the Facebook page. The Caribou Chamber page on Facebook was created to promote our members and our area. Doing so is one of the main responsibilities of the Chamber. If I did not believe what I write, you could call it propaganda. But what I write comes from my insides. And Facebook is the perfect forum. Not only is it free, but it reaches people all over. Who knows, perhaps someone will read that page some day and decide to make Caribou or the area home or perhaps it will lead to someone investigating our area for a new business or expansion possibilities.
And so, it is important as one strategy of reaching the Chamber’s overall goals. After the two grand openings on Tuesday, I wrote two pieces about the experience and posted pictures. It was a happy moment. That night, a concerned citizen decided to use one of those posts to heavily criticize the city for one of its hiring decisions. The problem? I took it personally.
I did not take it personally for me. Heck, I can take pretty much anything. But I took it personally for the city and city council and for the person that was hired. I also took it personally for the new business and member that should have been able to enjoy the buzz from the post without the political comment.
I did what is so easy on the Internet: I fired off a knee-jerk reaction to the comment. That was unprofessional and wrong. And my decision has stuck with me. I have long known that you never write anything publicly such as an e-mail or a comment on a site when strong emotions are involved. I blew it this time. My response also had the possibility of backtracking all the good the site has created in the last few months.
Live and learn. Again.
The first quarter newsletter should be available by the end of next week. I am looking forward to that little publication.
Happy Anniversary wishes go out to Burger King, which joined the Chamber way back in 1979. Thank you for your long association with the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce.
Executive Director William Tasker may be reached in the CACC office at 498-6156 or e-mail him at cacc@cariboumaine.net.
