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September 27, 2004

Next: Ski lift | Roger Arsenault President, Black Mountain of Maine Operating Board, Rumford

By Sean Donahue
People who complain about long winters and deep snowdrifts don't get much sympathy from Roger Arsenault. The Rumford native is an unabashed fan of Maine's most maligned season, largely thanks to his lifelong relationship with nearby Black Mountain. He grew up skiing at the small hill, competed on the high school ski team with a girl he'd eventually marry and then raised two sons as fixtures on Black's Nordic and alpine trails.

But Arsenault, 56, knows that Black Mountain could have disappeared the way many community ski hills across New England have ˆ— taking with them a tradition and an important economic asset ˆ— if the Maine Winter Sports Center hadn't bought the mountain from the Greater Rumford Community Center in 2003. In its mission to bring the health and economic benefits of skiing to rural Maine communities, the MWSC provides the capital to purchase or expand ski facilities, but requires local communities to run them. As president of Black Mountain's operating board, Arsenault now leads the team of Rumford-area ski enthusiasts, town officials and local business owners establishing the mountain's strategy, setting budgets, hiring staff and running day-to-day operations.

In doing so, Arsenault is creating a prototype for other Maine communities hoping to revive or retain skiing as a piece of their own community identity and economic portfolio. "This has always been a dream, to see the mountain expand," says Arsenault. "On the other side, being a business owner in the community, I have to look at what's going to allow Rumford to grow."

Why skiing? Like the Maine Winter Sports Center, Arsenault believes that getting Mainers off the couch and away from the computer during the winter can reduce incidences of diabetes and obesity. And he has seen the economic spinoff potential of a busy ski facility through his volunteer work with Rumford's Chisholm Ski Club. Founded in 1924, the club has helped Black Mountain become an internationally recognized Nordic ski venue, hosting everything from local races and college tournaments to the U.S. Nationals ˆ— an event that brings in $1 million for the surrounding community.

Now, Arsenault is overseeing an expansion that includes a new lodge and new chairlift, as well as new skiing programs like adult and youth racing, a women's ski group and after-work ski clinics he believes can both increase the overall number of people who take up skiing in Maine and make Black Mountain a regional destination. "For years, [at Black Mountain] we've created an awful lot of skiers for the ski industry," says Arsenault, adding that this expansion will help keep more of those skiers, and their recreational dollars, in the community.

It's fitting that Arsenault heads up Black Mountain's operating board, because he also was instrumental in convincing the MWSC to purchase the mountain, which Arsenault says hadn't broken even in years. Before agreeing to the deal, MWSC CEO Andy Shepard wanted proof that the communities around Rumford would support the project. So Arsenault ˆ— who co-owns local heating fuel and equipment supplier Community Energy Co. ˆ— canvassed his colleagues at the River Valley Chamber of Commerce, members of the River Valley Growth Council, city officials and local business owners to enlist volunteers for an advisory board. "I brought to the table the ones I thought were the doers, the ones who would commit to something [and] believed in it," says Arsenault.

As he continues to demonstrate his own commitment to Black Mountain, Arsenault provides one more model for Maine's business world. Small business owners have a responsibility to do something more for their communities than just providing jobs and goods or services, says Arsenault. And in a state overwhelmingly made up of small businesses, those business owners who decide to get involved with something they're passionate about have the power to bring about social and economic change. "If you look at any small community, it's volunteers that make the community operate," says Arsenault. "If everybody has the same attitude that they'll leave it up to somebody else to do it, it doesn't get done."

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