Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom CONGRESSIONAL VISIT - Members of the Piscataquis County Economic Development Council (PCEDC) Executive Committee met with Congressman Mike Michaud (D-Maine) to discuss county economic issues on the afternoon of July 6 at the Penquis Higher Education Center. During his visit, Michaud also toured the Center Theatre and viewed the waterline project at the Pleasant River Lumber Company.

Piscataquis Tourism Task Force Committee member Roger Merchant told Michaud about several nature-based tourism initiatives including recreation maps, "how to find your way and all these things we have in the outdoors through high quality information," Merchant said about the maps, an audio driving tour of the villages of the county developed by the Penquis Leadership Institute (PLI) and a nature signage and infrastructure project.

The nature signage and infrastructure project, which utilizes both county and state funds, is part of a nature tourism itinerary from "Rockwood to Brownville" that will help county officials know and develop what visitor assets are, said Merchant.

Michaud praised tourism initiatives designed to help the economy, saying "if a rural area does well, the whole state does well."

PCEDC Executive Director Thomas Kittredge spoke of the need for state-of-the-art telecommunications throughout the county, saying "the first step in having any kind of company is high speed Internet." He added by giving the example of a videogame designer who lives on the outskirts of Dover-Foxcroft and travels into town, instead of working at home, for high speed Internet as an entrepreneur who could be aided by telecomm upgrade initiatives.

"Every small business owner outside the town limits suffers," said PCEDC Community Development Specialist Sheila Grant. She added that the town office in Abbot has faced difficulties in conducting town business with the slow speed of dial-up, and approaching the issue from a regional instead of town by town perspective could be more cost effective.

High speed Internet "is not a magic bullet but is the first important step" to attracting businesses, said Kittredge. "Without, it will always be an obstacle to bringing companies in and keeping companies."

Michaud said he has encouraged the Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce to help out rural areas with funding for state-of-the-art Internet connections. vAmong the transportation concerns addressed were construction projects on heavily traveled roads in Milo and Guilford. Michaud, who serves on a Congressional transportation committee, said he is in the process of working on transportation bill to provide "as much dollars as we can in funding," and adding that transportation monies for "rural areas are definitely needed."

Michaud and the committee members also discussed the facility of the former Moosehead Manufacturing Company in Dover-Foxcroft. "It's not just the people who are affected, but the community as well," said the East Millinocket Democrat about the company closing.

Earlier this spring Dover-Foxcroft officials applied for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Planning Grant for the facility, but the application was turned down by the state review board. A revised application was been sent in the hopes of securing other funding.

"The CDBG program is very much supported in Congress, and we do everything we can to enhance the program," said Michaud.

Michaud concluded the meeting by saying "trade in general is an issue I'm really concerned about." He mentioned that one way he is working to help overcome the loss of manufacturing jobs in Maine is by working with a group in Congress to create new opportunities to export products to China and Korea. Michaud said later this year he is scheduled to travel to Korea, to "see what we can export and how we can help sell Maine-made products."
"This content originally appeared as a copyrighted article in the Piscataquis Observer and is used here with permission."