CARIBOU, Maine — The Aroostook Republican office in Caribou will soon move to its publishing company’s headquarters in Presque Isle.
The move will trim overhead costs, said newspaper officials, and the publication will otherwise remain the same.
Reporter Christopher Bouchard and sales representative Raquel Beaulieu will continue to serve the Caribou area with news and advertising. Bouchard, who lives in Woodland, works mainly on the road to cover the region. For Beaulieu, the larger staff at the office in Presque Isle will allow her to have more time available for clients in Caribou to meet their advertising needs.
“With folks doing so much business by email and phone, we rarely see people at the Aroostook Republican office in Caribou,” said Andrew Birden, general manager of Northeast Publishing, which produces, along with the Aroostook edition of the Bangor Daily News, the Aroostook Republican and four other weeklies: The Star-Herald of Presque Isle, the Houlton Pioneer Times, St. John Valley Times, and Piscataquis Observer of Dover-Foxcroft.
“We’ve seen a sharp drop-off in the number of people who stop by the local office each week. Even though we help many people by phone and on the Internet, sometimes we’ll go a couple of days before someone comes through the door,” Birden said.
“With the economic pressures on local news, it is good common sense to house the Republican’s small staff at our larger headquarters, which is just 10 minutes down the road from Caribou. There, we will provide even better customer service to our readers and advertisers.”
“Chris still lives in the coverage area,” said Northeast Publishing Senior Editor Rick Levasseur, “and he and the rest or our staff will continue to serve our Caribou area readers the best we know how.”
The staff at Northeast Publishing design and print the five weeklies from the home base in Presque Isle.
The Republican’s mission to provide local news to the Caribou region is unchanged.
For news concerns, contact Bouchard at 764-4471 or via email at cbouchard@bangordailynews.com. For advertising queries, reach Beaulieu at 764-4471 or by email at rbeaulieu@bangordailynews.com.
The Aroostook Republican has served Caribou and its surrounding communities for 137 years and with your support will continue to do so for years to come.
