Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 16 : Spring 2013 | Page 65

doing?” “Growth” is not a bad word. I think some people associate growth with that urban renewal thing that happened to downtown Caribou and I get that. But growth simply means becoming what we can and are supposed to be. It means taking advantage of our natural beauty to attract visitors. It means turning some of those visitors into people that can spark others to move and start a life (and business) here. It was that word of mouth thing that organically grew the area back in the pioneer days. Despite the occasional pessimism I hear, my message is optimism. As I visit our members and organizations, I find incredible things going on here in the Caribou area. We have the largest accounting firm north of Bangor. We have the tenth largest credit union in the state. We have a manufacturer that ships worldwide every single day and is one of only 25 companies in the world that do what they do. We have an organization that has been helping people since 1883. We have a gift shop that was the first to sell Troll Beads in the state of Maine. We have businesses that have adapted with the times to survive and thrive 30, 50, 100 and 150 years after they began. Cool things are happening here. It is my job to tell their stories. I am doing so on our Facebook page and in weekly newspaper columns. I want to have others see the strengths of our area like I do. These strengths are marketable and simply need to be discovered by tourism and by businesses that could find a great home here. There are obstacles and it won’t happen overnight and there will be some tough decisions to make. But they will be worth it if we put on our 3-D glasses and look at things in a new way. I see vision in new leaders like Gary Aiken and Austin Bleess. I see vision in what Richard Cilley is doing with the Caribou Historical Center. I see the Caribou Library evolving with the times with a parking lot full most of the time. What do you think of this new slogan: “Caribou, the coolest city in America.” Kate McCartney coined it. I love it. Let’s do it. And for those of you who think my enthusiasm will dampen in light of our realities, you don’t know me very well. Your “LOCAL” choice for payroll processing Curt Paterson President [email protected] P.O. Box 189 Presque Isle, Me 04769-0189 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] www.patersonpayroll.com WINTER 2013 SPRING 2013 65 65