Emera Maine donates $250,000
toward Healthy Hometowns
ANDY SHEPHERD, Maine Winter Sports Center president and CEO, pictured at left, accepts a check for $250,000 from Gerard Chasse, president of Bangor Hydro and Maine Public Service, during a ceremony held at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle on Monday. The amount will be distributed over a five-year period, with funds used to sponsor events at the center. This also marks the first public use of the merged companies’ new name, Emera Maine, which will officially replace MPS and Bangor Hydro come January 2014.
Staff photos/Kathy McCarty
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
SARAH BEAULIEU, a local athlete who uses the Nordic Heritage Center, was on hand to thank Emera officials for donating to the Maine Winter Sports Center. The money will be used to promote youth programs at the Presque Isle facility.
PRESQUE ISLE — Officials for Bangor Hydro and Maine Public Service Company were on hand Monday at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle for a news conference to announce a major sponsorship with the Maine Winter Sports Center and its Healthy Hometowns program. BH and MPS President Gerry Chasse was on hand to present a check for $250,000 to Andy Shepard, MWSC president and CEO.
“We’re here at the Nordic Heritage Center, joined by members of the Maine Winter Sports Center and our parent company, Emera. We have a strong commitment to giving back to the communities where we live and work,” said Chasse. “We’re particularly excited to support the MWSC’s Healthy Hometowns program — recognized as one of the best youth development programs in the world. I can’t think of a better place than this sponsorship for the first public use of our new company name, ‘Emera Maine.’”
Bangor Hydro and Maine Public Service effectively have been operating as one company for some time and on Jan. 1, 2014 will make it official by coming together under the name Emera Maine.
“The Maine Winter Sports Center and our Healthy Hometowns program is in more than 140 communities across Maine, empowering youth to lead healthy, active, outdoor lifestyles,” said Shepard. “To continue making a difference we need the support of Maine’s business community and are proud and honored to have Emera Maine come on board as a partner in creating a healthier Maine.”
Shepard said the Nordic Heritage Center will be the home of the 2014 IBU World Junior Championship. He noted that what started as an effort to make a difference in one community has grown to over 100 communities statewide.
“For us to continue to do what we do, we need to align ourselves with the best in class in the corporate world,” said Shepard.
Chasse then presented Shepard with the check, while student athletes and others looked on. Sarah Beaulieu, of Fort Fairfield, one of the athletes, spoke on behalf of the others, noting what the center means to them and why supporting the Healthy Hometowns program matters to Maine.
“I’m one of the kids who’ll benefit from this sponsorship. The program has taken me to Freeport where I learned archery and paddleboarding. I’ve been to Massachusetts with Bill Koch teaching kids to ski and live better lifestyles,” said Beaulieu, noting the center is also a place that’s “fun to hang out with friends.”
Also present was Rob Bennett, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Emera Inc., parent company of Bangor Hydro and Maine Public Service and their successor, Emera Maine.
“While we will soon have a new company name, we are the same people, with the same commitment to our community. And we can’t think of a better place to show that than through support of the Maine Winter Sports Center,” said Chasse.
The donation will be spread out over a five-year period, with the center receiving $50,000 per year to be used toward the Healthy Hometowns program.
