It is all a part of the work that the downtown committee did last year, said Nancy Ketch, community development director for Houlton, speaking of the committee that was formed to enhance economic and cultural opportunities for Market Square.
Ketch said that the group continues to focus on parking issues in the area and how to best address the situation for both business owners and landlords. Downtown business owners have complained about losing sales at times because shoppers have such difficulty finding available parking spots near their stores.
“We are going to continue to work with business owners to make sure that the parking issue is resolved,” she said. “We will make sure there are enough parking spaces.”
They are also looking at the idea of adopting an identity for the community to better market itself.
“The idea of branding has been around for a long time,” she said. “The town has discussed it in the past, and so has the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation. A brand is a perception that people have of your community, so it is very important.”
Ketch said that both she and committee members have been taking advantage of the resources offered by the website run by Roger Brooks, a national consultant who has worked with nearly a thousand communities and a number of states, including Maine, on their branding, product development and marketing efforts, according to his website.
“He offers a variety of webinars that offer some very useful advice that we can apply right in our own community,” she said. “His advice about downtown revitalization is what we especially want to focus on. He has some great tips about how to bring your downtown to life, and a lot of those steps we have taken already, such as having a community market and bringing in restaurants. But there certainly is more we could do.”
