To the editor:
I had a dream.My dream projected a Houlton 10 years from now. The population reached over 7,000. The downtown hummed with small technology companies supporting cybersecurity research. The previously empty airport now bustled with a U.S. Government Drone Research Facility surrounded by several software and mechanical engineering companies.
Fred Putnam, a successful Houlton entrepreneur of the 1930s-’50s, described the vision to me (he was in my dream), “What do you think, Bob?” I responded, “I think it is a pretty wild dream. Houlton was ready to fold up and blow away in the early part of this century. The town was depressed, the folks were dispirited, and there were no prospects for growth. What changed?”
“Well”, said Fred, “it started with an idea called “Aroostook Aspirations”. Some guy up north, Presque Isle, I think, started a scholarship program to send kids to college and encourage them to stay in The County after college. As it turns out, a Fitzpatrick boy (don’t know which one, the town is full of Fitzpatricks) used his Aroostook Aspirations scholarship at UMPI to study financial management. Following that, he enrolled in the MBA Program at the Wharton School in Pennsylvania using an HHS Alumni Scholarship.
“Long story short, he took a position with one of the big investment banks in New York. A real ‘go getter’, in three years he headed up their Small Business Underwriting Division.”
The rest of what he told me seemed pretty complicated, Mr. Editor, but I’ll do my best to give you the high points. The guy (the Fitzpatrick guy) wanted to “give back” as the saying goes. He convinced his boss to issue $500,000 in bonds, in the name of a group with a working title of Houlton Technology Corporation,(HTC). The bond would be denominated in $1,000 increments to supporters of the town. They were marketed as a vehicle to establish a Hi-Tech presence in Houlton. The bonds would pay no interest for 10 years … but, (there’s always a but), the bonds would be due in 10 years with accrued interest payable at the rate of 5 percent a year. Buying one was sort of an act of faith by the bondholders.
His boss was curious about how this was going to work out. He wondered how issuing bonds could bring in business. The Fitzpatrick guy told his boss he needed his help to arrange a meeting with Senator Collins in Washington. As senior senator, she served on several key committees, most notably as Chair of the Homeland Security Committee and she held a key position on the Appropriations Committee.
Fitz (we know who the guy is by now) contacted the Aroostook Aspirations fellow in Presque Isle, gave him a brief overview of his idea, and asked him to join with Jim Paulson (Fitz’s boss) and himself at a meeting with Senator Collins.
He agreed and asked if he could bring his marketing guru a woman named Kerry or Karen Wells. (After they met, he learned her name was Kristen). When asked why he thought Collins would help, Fitz told Jim, “Why not? Senator Byrd built a Naval Base in West Virginia, and there is no coastline in West Virginia. John Murtha, a Congressman from Pennsylvania built an extended runway at the airport in his hometown just so he could fly home weekends on a big jet. Why wouldn’t Senator Collins help the town that helped her win four terms in Congress?”
This is getting way too long, so I’ll get to the finish. Since it’s only a dream you can fill in any blanks to refine the idea.
Senator Collin agreed to help IF the town could show commitment by buying the bonds. With help from the State Economic Development Committee, Kristen and Fitz wrote a business plan based on raising the $500,000 locally. The bonds sold in two months; in fact, demand was so high the investment banker raised the issue to $700,000.
Once the Senator’s commitment was known, bonds with a thousand dollar face value sold like lobster rolls at the Skowhegan Fair. The HHS Alumni Association invested$5,000. Each of the local service organizations, Rotary and Kiwanis, bought into the plan.
Local businesses and longtime residents realized the potential for riding High Technology — it was the wave of the future — Houlton’s future.
Using eminent domain, HTC purchased two buildings in Market Square. The town board approved a 50-year lease for property at the Houlton Airport for HTC. No payments due until tenants at the property were established and paid rent.
Senator Collins used her position on the Appropriations Committee, as well as her political clout, to move a government cybersecurity company from Connecticut to the recently leased building in Market Square. She also convinced the Department of Homeland Security to fund a Drone Research facility at the Houlton Airport HTC site. The site was ideal for testing drones because of the remoteness of the area.
The cybersecurity company brought 300 high paying technical/scientific jobs to Houlton. The drone facility added another 200 to the local economy.
“Success breeds Success” is not only a motivational quote; it is true. In Houlton’s case, software companies moved in to support the existing Hi Tech base. UMPI created a cybersecurity program, the high school expanded its computer science program, and the State of Maine developed a technology program to train Houlton residents needing work.
The alarm went off. I woke up. It was just a dream. I knew that.
But -− I woke up thinking of a famous quote by motivational speaker Paul J. Meyer: “Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon … must inevitably come to pass!”
Maybe it will. Maybe — from Aroostook Aspirations or the HHS Alumni program — a Fitz will “Rise up like a Phoenix from the ashes.”
Bob Fields
Westerville, N.Y.
