🔒Grassroots branding initiative seeks to boost the Moosehead Lake region’s year-round economy

Two minutes into his presentation unveiling “America's Crown Jewel” as the tagline of a new branding initiative for the Moosehead Lake region, consultant Roger Brooks set a high bar for the marketing plan his firm will complete by early summer for implementation by the region's businesses and community leaders.

“You better be significantly better — and oh, by the way, the biggest lake in Maine is not the reason people are going to come here,” he says at the start of his April 10 presentation, which already has been posted on YouTube video in its entirety. “A brand is a perception. A brand is what people think of you when you say the name 'Moosehead Lake.' And it's a promise. When they get here, are you going to deliver on that promise?”

Brooks and his company, Peoria, Ariz.-based Roger Brooks International, is considered a leading expert on the creation of “great destinations,” with a client list of nearly 1,000 communities in North America and Europe that includes locations comparable to the Moosehead Lake region — such as Alpena, Mich., “The Sanctuary of the Great Lakes,” and Coos County, New Hampshire, “Grand Resorts. Grand Adventures.” He was hired last October by the Moosehead Lake Regional Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit founded in 2013 to create an economic development branding strategy for the region that will set it apart not only as a destination for tourists but also as a place to establish a business and raise a family.

“We need to encourage families to move to Moosehead Lake communities and, to do that, we need jobs,” Brooks says. “And that means you need to develop a year-round sustainable economy. You are transitioning from a mill economy to a tourism-based economy. The mills aren't coming back, and you're not alone in that problem. But you know what? Tourism for just three months is not enough to sustain businesses that are located here year-round.”

To underscore that point, Brooks cites the steady decline in the graduating class size at Greenville Middle/High School: from 57 in 1969, to 49 a few years later, to 27 a generation later, to seven students if the current kindergarten class doesn't pick up any more by the time they're seniors.

“We need to repopulate your schools and that means we need to bring young families back,” Brooks says. “You have a chance to fix this, and it's right now. This is about jobs and bringing the community back to prosperity. It isn't about turning you into Disneyland. This is about bringing you back to where you were.”

There are 650,000 people living within a 100-mile radius of the Moosehead Lake region, Brooks says. If the region simply attracted 300 more visitors a week for 40 weeks a year — adding onto the Memorial Day to Labor Day season — lodging establishments, restaurants and other businesses would be full and the communities of Rockwood and Greenville would see new jobs being created.

“You have a place that's worth a flight from anywhere in North America, if not beyond,” Brooks told an audience of almost 200 people at the Greenville high school's auditorium. “You really do. I'm on the road 250 days a year. I've been in all 50 states. You have something here that's absolutely remarkable. And there's no reason you can't own that. Make a bold statement. Claim it. Own it. Evoke emotion. Raise eyebrows. Make it memorable. Look at what you've got.”

The “America's Crown Jewel” branding statement is the result of a seven-month grassroots effort by 17 local stakeholders, who were guided by Brooks in identifying and defining what makes the Moosehead Lake region noteworthy. The region is defined as a 25-mile radius from the center of Moosehead Lake, which is located near the entrance of Maine's North Woods.

“The feedback from hundreds of community members and visitors was essential in driving this effort,” says Amanda Hunt, owner of Greenville-based Northwoods Camp Rentals and a branding committee member. “Moosehead Lake truly is 'America's Crown Jewel,' and we hope this branding effort will help to boost the region's local economy and draw visitors to this beautiful destination.”

In summarizing the committee's work, Brooks pointed out that the branding statement “America's Crown Jewel” encompasses up to a dozen qualities that local people felt were distinctive about the region. First and foremost is the lake itself and its opportunities for boating, canoeing and kayaking, fishing, cruises and photographing wildlife. But the serenity found in nature can also be tied to opportunities for visitors to “unplug and reboot” and for creative thinkers to find inspiration for their painting, poetry or photography.

Luke Muzzy, president of the Moosehead Lake Regional Economic Development Corp., says Brooks will deliver within 30 to 60 days an action plan detailing steps that can be taken over the next five years, as well as longer-range initiatives that will build and strengthen the region's brand.

“This isn't a short-term plan,” he says. “We understand how much work it's going to take to get us to where we've got an eight-to-10-month season, instead of just the summer months.”

“A brand is a promise, a promise of what we will offer someone who lives in, works in or vacations in the Moosehead Lake region,” Hunt agrees. “We have more work to do to make that promise possible, but the community is excited, engaged and committed to making this happen.”

Angela Arno, executive director of the Moosehead Lake Chamber of Commerce, says the new branding initiative differs from past efforts to boost tourism in that it is a “complete marketing and development plan all tied together as one.”

“The recommendations will come forward from Roger Brooks International as an action plan that will include everything from product development on up,” she says. “This is a grassroots initiative and that is why I believe it will succeed.”

The next steps in the process, she says, involve putting together the “brand leadership team” of local champions by May and then getting the action plan in hand sometime in June. In the meantime, she reports the community has some growth opportunities in progress, including:

• A new downtown restaurant named Puckerbrush will start construction this summer.

• Blair Hill Inn has added another large guest suite to its floor plan.

• The Appalachian Mountain Club is working to complete the development of 30.4 miles of multi-use trails that will create connectivity to planned regional mountain bike trails. 

"It is an exciting time to be at Moosehead Lake,” she says.

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