Economic development. It’s a term that those elected to municipal offices like to use, particularly during an election, to help drum up support for their candidacy. But what does it really mean?
For the past three years, since I have been covering town politics for Houlton, every candidate running for the town council has expressed the importance of bringing new businesses into the town. New businesses are the key to long-term sustainability, but where will those businesses come from?
Our population certainly plays a role in how much business we can support. Many of our young people, once they graduate high school, bolt for larger cities that offer more in the way of excitement. That trend has existed for decades and isn’t likely to change. Young people often have to go elsewhere and experience life away from home in order to appreciate what they had growing up.
The trick is trying to lure those people back when they are settling down and starting a family of their own.
The Houlton Town Council held a workshop on economic development matters April 29, with four of seven members present and about 20 audience members. The purpose of the meeting was to examine Houlton’s assets, strategic planning strategies and brainstorm ideas for improving development in the Shiretown.
Houlton has a couple of hurdles that make it difficult to draw interest from national retailers. Because of its small size — Houlton’s population was 6,123 as of the 2010 census — and the distance from other towns to draw from, many large retailers do not consider Houlton as a viable destination.
The town has traditionally been a one large retail department store community, supplemented by many other smaller businesses. In the 1970s, there was Woolworth and later Woolco. In the 1980s and ‘90s, we had Ames; and then in the mid-‘90s to present we have Walmart.
Having a second national retail store choose Houlton as its destination is unlikely, so energy should be spent developing other areas.
We have a historic downtown area, but the number of empty storefronts is concerning. The town has been looking at ways to entice more individuals or companies to locate downtown and has even created a group comprised of business owners in this area to gather information on what is working and what is not.
During the town’s economic development meeting, several ideas were presented. Some suggested the town should focus its energy on larger manufacturers to help create job opportunities in the area. Others felt that not enough emphasis was being placed on forestry, while others expressed that the town’s airport was not being utilized to its potential.
Jon McLaughlin, executive director of the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation, stated the town should “brand” itself to those from away. But what should that brand be? Are we an agricultural community? Are we a music center for the state?
Coming up with a brand that everyone can agree on will be a difficult challenge.
Some members of the town council have expressed a desire to not see Houlton become another “strip mall” community where all the stores look the same.
The truth of the matter is, it is extremely difficult for an individual to open a retail business without the name recognition that comes with it. That is one small part of the reason why so many new businesses fail within the first six months to a year from opening.
It was suggested during the economic development meeting that having a “name” hotel or restaurant for those visiting from away would be beneficial. I wouldn’t dispute that. People are creatures of habit and often seek out familiar names in unfamiliar places. Whenever my family travels, we tend to gravitate to restaurants we know of and hotel chains we have stayed before, so there is some merit to that argument.
But if chain hotel were to come, chances are it would put one of our two existing motels out of business because there simply aren’t enough people choosing Houlton as a destination vacation spot. That’s not because there aren’t enough things to do in the community.
Houlton simply needs to find its niche and then market that to the rest of the world in the hopes that some will come for a visit, and maybe discover that this truly is a community worth a lifetime.
