CARIBOU, Maine — The city of Caribou is gaining a new employee whose job will be to beef up marketing and event efforts.
Caribou native, Lydia Kieffer, only has a few more weeks left of hospitality school before she begins her new job as marketing and event director for the city.
“There are so many things I’m excited about,” Kieffer said. “It’s marketing and events, two things I’m passionate about.”
Kieffer’s main focus is to put an emphasis on growing the community and making it a fun place to work, live and play.
“I’m looking forward to continuing Thursdays on Sweden Street, developing that further, and creating new events to celebrate the community and attract tourists,” Kieffer said.
Kieffer has a folder packed with ideas she’s been sharing with her team members at the public library, the Caribou Wellness Center, and City Manager Austin Bleess.
“We have a number of events that we do in town that we want to expand upon and she’ll be tasked with that as well,” Bleess said. “Tourism’s a large part of the economy in Maine and we’re hoping we’ll be able to get a bigger slice of the tourism pie.”
One thing Caribou citizens can look forward to is the development of a winter version of Thursday’s on Sweden Street. Kieffer has big plans she’s excited to unveil in the near future.
“I have so many ideas in this folder. We are looking to bring back the winter carnival. I know it’s been going on a little, but not to the full extent is had been,” Kieffer said.
Kieffer stressed she wants residents to get the in the mindset that Caribou is the community to be in. She wants residents to be excited about living in Caribou and to promote local business.
Kieffer’s background is in hotel resort and tourism management as well as marketing, advertising and events. She has experience in event planning and said she knows what it takes to design a successful event and the research that goes behind it.
“It will be good to have someone who can coordinate all these things and can bring back some of the events that have gone by the wayside,” Bleess said. “There’s a lot to do and a lot Caribou has to offer, and having a person to coordinate that can help make Caribou a destination community.”
When Kieffer interviewed for the position she was face to face with members of the police department, the library, the rec center, and Bleese. “It was intimidating, but it was good and it was nice to see they were excited about developing and improving the community,” Kieffer said. “It’s smart to get the different departments moving towards the same goals.”
On Day One of her new job for the city she’s going to hit social media hard, “Caribou is going to have a better presence on the Internet,” Kieffer said.
Kieffer’s friends and family are glad to have her back in town after attending school in New York.
“They love that I’m coming back, they love the area and they know that I like it. So they’re happy that I could get an amazing job in the area,” Kieffer said. “I’m excited, it’s my hometown and I know so much about this area.”
