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August 8, 2011

Educators prepare northern Maine to harness the economic impact of the World Acadian Congress

By Jason Parent

President, Maine delegation organizing the 2014 World Acadian Congress and director of communications, Northern Maine Community College, Presque Isle

In August 2014, the northernmost part of our state will host the largest-ever event to come to our region. The World Acadian Congress is held every five years in a different area populated by people of French descent and serves as a cultural Olympics for Acadian people.

Exactly three years to the day from the publication of this issue of Mainebiz, a newly created international destination comprised of northern Maine, northwest New Brunswick and southeast Quebec, known as Acadia of the Lands and Forests, will open the fifth Congrès Mondial Acadien. With it will come more than 50,000 visitors and an economic impact pegged at more than $50 million.

Beyond the two-and-a-half-week celebration of family reunions, cultural and sporting events, community activities and conferences is the tremendous opportunity to ignite a new economic engine that could help drive northern Maine into the future. As with all such development initiatives, preparing and training the work force is essential.

The friendly welcome mat is always rolled out in Aroostook County, but the World Acadian Congress brings with it the need to add to the skill set of those working the front lines of the tourism industry.

Specifically, the Congress will attract people from 44 Francophone countries. Many in the St. John Valley region already speak some French, but may need to brush up on the language. Others in central and southern Aroostook County and even further south, where overflow visitors will stay, could certainly benefit from a basic understanding of the French language.

As the result of an ongoing dialogue between officials with Northern Maine Community College and the University of Maine at Fort Kent, a course offered by the university, designed to help students master basic French communication skills, will be delivered on the NMCC campus this fall. This will mark the first time that a UMFK course is offered at NMCC.

The three-credit Elementary French I course, taught by Nicole Boudreau, UMFK assistant professor of French, will be offered on Aug. 30 for 16 weeks in Presque Isle. The course strongly emphasizes oral communication, and much of the class time will be spent on interactive tasks and language practice.

This is happening because event organizers, educational institutions and economic developers in northern Maine have their eyes on both the coming large-scale event and the great potential for its legacy. They point to an extensive tourism study conducted in New Brunswick's Acadian Peninsula (the northeastern region of the province) surrounding the last World Acadian Congress held there in 2009. The study tracked tourism revenue in the region in the summers of 2008, 2009 and 2010. As expected, numbers soared during the summer of 2009 when the Congress was held. However, most noteworthy was the jump in revenue between 2008 and 2010 — factoring out the year of major activity. Those numbers showed tourism revenue 24 % higher in 2010 than the year preceding the Congress.

The World Acadian Congress is big business. The shared international budget to host the 2014 event is $11.9 million. An estimated 30 jobs will be created as a direct result of the WAC and another 160 will be generated indirectly.

The visibility that comes with hosting the World Acadian Congress has great potential for changing the nature of the tourism industry in northern Maine. In order for that to happen, the local work force needs to be prepared for the transition. Enter the region's K-12 and higher education systems.

In addition to the French course offering, guest lecturers and cultural events reflecting aspects of the area's unique Acadian culture are being hosted by the colleges to support the initiative. A number of academic conferences will be held during the Congress — likely hosted by the colleges in the region. Furthermore, it is anticipated, as with previous World Acadian Congresses, that once area hotel accommodations are booked, the institutions within the host region will open their residential facilities to house the guests unable to secure lodging.

In the local public school system, a curriculum guide will provide learning exercises and classroom activities to prepare the younger generation to be active and culturally aware participants in the events of 2014. School facilities will also host a number of the large family gatherings.

Over the past decade, the educational institutions in the region have been instrumental in helping the Maine Winter Sports Center and other partners host world class biathlon and Nordic ski events in the region. The colleges in The County, particularly NMCC, have also led the way in integrating curriculum to support and advance the development of new and growing industries.

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