From the Editor: Pandemic has had a mixed effect on northern Maine
Houlton has long had an economic relationship with its Canadian counterparts, including Woodstock, New Brunswick.
Normally, it’s a 20-minute drive between the two towns. Residents from Houlton and Woodstock routinely made the trek back and forth to shop or to visit relatives. That’s the normal situation.
But, as Laurie Schreiber writes in our cover story, “Houlton holds on,” it’s a different story during the pandemic. Essential travel is limited to such things as medical, emergency, military purposes, and in some cases educational, work-related or trade situations.
Canadian traffic “is very important not just for Houlton but all of Aroostook County,” Jon McLaughlin, director of Southern Aroostook Development Corp., tells Laurie. “A lot of Canadians come for gas. They buy a lot from grocery stores and retail operations.”
A shop-owner took to Facebook to find out why one of her best customers hadn’t been in. She discovered she lived in Woodstock. “I’m fine,” the customer responded. “I just can’t cross the border.”
COVID-19 has scattered the economy in different directions. Even as some businesses suffered, there’s been an increase in interest from out-of-state homebuyers looking to get out of cities. Aroostook County’s average home prices look pretty attractive to people hot footing it out of New York or Boston. Laurie’s story starts on Page 12.
In the Katahdin Region, Maureen Milliken talks to Mike Elliott, director of economic development at the Eastern Maine Development Corp. about what he’s seen during the pandemic. “We were already hearing from individuals with inquiries about starting a business, but we’ve gotten more in the past four months than in the entire preceding year,” Elliott says. While the area’s natural beauty, strong infrastructure and attractive real estate prices are a selling point, broadband remains a challenge. “We need to get serious about making that connection,” Elliot says. A move is on for fiber connection in Millinocket, East Millinocket and Medway, but the upper towns in the region are sparsely populated and farther apart, so broadband is more elusive, Maureen reports. See Page 16.
We’ve been watching with interest the progress of Husson University’s College of Business. Renee Cordes catches up with Husson’s president, Robert A. Clark, for an update on the construction. That’s part of a regional roundup that starts on Page 20.
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