To the editor:
Even though we have a City Council that is supposed to run the affairs of the community, we do not have members who have been in business for themselves and must put together a budget of some means to make sure that the business continues to flourish.
I can remember when I was in my early 30s; we had people like Sam Collins, Nelson J. Gagnon, R.H. Frost, George Fogelin and others that ran their own businesses successfully. When I took over as the manager of Loring Federal Credit Union, I had researched files and found that we could borrow up to 50 percent of the monies we had on deposit. I went to the banks and requested a $60,000 loan. The NBB, the bank that I was familiar with, turned me down. I then went to the Aroostook Trust and was told that I would have to appear before the Board of Directors. The day that I made my presentation, I felt that I could have sold a refrigerator to an Eskimo. The following day, I was called and told that the loan was granted under one condition, that I transfer my checking account to Aroostook Trust; this we gladly did.
To this day the County Federal Credit Union is moving forward with leaps and bounds.
Today I might add that the Caribou City Council does not seem to have any interest in Caribou but in feathering their own nest. I would venture to say there is a problem when you have people that have been successful in their own rights opening markets in other communities as opposed to our own.
We can do better than that in Caribou. We need to help Caribou get back the title of the “Potato Capital of the World”, increase our population to help reduce taxes and restore pride in our community.
Joe Bouchard
Caribou
