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Contributed photo/Diane Hines |
By Diane Hines
Rotarian
HOULTON — The Houlton Rotary Club met for their noon luncheon on Monday, Oct. 5, with a few guests present and one prospective member. A seven-day reading to be a member took place for Tracy Rockwell who is sponsored by Otis Smith. Rockwell is the director of the Houlton Higher Education Center.
Pastor Mark Lunn of Hodgdon Baptist Church was a guest of Dennis Ashley and Bob Dorsey of NMDC was also a guest. Matthew Nightingale ran the meeting for Jane Torres, who was on vacation. Nightingale reminded the club of upcoming meetings such as the board meeting at noon on Oct. 8 at TD Bank and the Rotary Auction meeting which will be on Friday, Oct. 16, at noon at the Katahdin Trust Center behind Tim Hortons.
He also announced that over $50,000 of merchandise has been promised for the Rotary Auction. This will be the 60th Annual Rotary Auction.
Craig Bean promoted the Literacy Program that is organized by Otis Smith. He recommended the experience and how helpful it is to children to be read to by an adult and reported how much it improves the child’s reading skills.
Leigh Cummings introduced his guest, Chris Fogg, who would be his “boss’ boss.” Cummings volunteers at the Houlton Center for Tourism with Heidi Dolomont. He spoke about the benefits of this center to Aroostook County and its huge spin-off to businesses in the area. Chris Fogg’s most recent job for eight years was with the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. Before that he was the vice president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce where he worked with travel, tourism and transportation issues. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, majoring in tourism and management.
Eight months ago, Fogg began working as the Chief Executive Officer of the Maine Tourism Association and this visit marks his third to Houlton in that time frame. He appreciates the drive from Bangor to Houlton for its serenity and beauty. There are 1,500 members of Maine Tourism stretching from Madawaska to Kittery. His organization publishes the official guide and map of Maine and provides 200,000 copies to the Maine Office of Tourism which is a government entity in Augusta.
Fogg manages seven state visitors centers that employ 50 people. The Department of Transportation owns all of the buildings except for Houlton and Calais though they do provide the staff and equipment. Kittery is the busiest center in Maine. The association’s Manager of Public Affairs is Carolyn Manson who advocates for the association in Augusta. The website shows that Jim Brown of Rideouts is on the Board of Directors. The website is www.mainetourism.com and shows a wealth of information.
Fogg spoke about the financial structure of the tourism fund for example when eight percent tax is paid by customers to restaurants three percent returns to the fund. Presently the fund contains only $2 million because this fund tends to be raided periodically by the state. Carolyn Manson works tirelessly to protect this fund as a lobbyist in Augusta.
A new mission statement has been created for the organization to create economic opportunity and lead to growth and sustainability by advocacy and advancing public policy. Maine Tourism welcomes business owners to testify in Augusta to the House of Representatives and to create reaction which of course can be very time consuming. They are also invoking technology by having a director of management and communication on staff and using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter to motivate members. Yet print is still very important and the combination of print and technology is found to be very powerful for getting the word out to tourists.
Tourism is the No. 1 economy in Maine. About 33 million visitors came to Maine last year. Ninety-four thousand people work in the industry representing 14 percent of the workforce in Maine. A total of $533 million dollars were donated last year to the tourism fund resulting in a thirteen percent growth in the industry.
Fogg commended the Houlton center’s staff of Heidi and Leigh for their exemplary work, two of the best in the state. A study shows that if travelers stop into the visitor’s centers they spend eight times more during their visit. Fogg said that if a business spends $1 on advertising they can realize a $35 return on that dollar. This year Houlton has had thirty thousand visitors so far. The Canadian tourist represents one third of the volume though with the exchange rate lower this number is affected.
Fogg addressed the desire to sell the Houlton property to generate taxes. Houlton Town Manager Butch Asselin would like to do this and Fogg is working with him on this proposal because he would prefer a more accessible center on the north side of Route 1 as vehicles exit the Interstate 95. But the Maine Tourism Association will remain in the building until such a transaction occurs.
