Page 20 - Fall 2019 Newsletter

COLLABORATION CREATES MARKETING

ATTRACTION COMMITTEE

By Chris Anderson ‘81

In late 2018, the Southern Aroostook Development Corp, Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Houlton
authorized a committee to study the branding of our area. The committee is made up of Jane Torres, GHCoC Executive
Director; Nancy Ketch ‘82, Community Development Director, Fred Grant’88, President of WHOU-FM; Steve Milligan,
President of Green Minnow Marketing; Jon McLaughlin ‘73, SADC Executive Director and me.

We discovered after several meetings that our mission was larger than simply creating a brand. We came to realize that our
community was not effectively marketing itself to the outside world in a variety of ways. We officially changed our name
to ‘The Attraction Committee’ and re-established a focus on developing a solid marketing plan to attract the most likely
individuals and families to our area.

We’ve studied various target markets and researched demographic trends. Our conclusions are this:
• Individuals (and families) make lifestyle moves between the ages of 30 and 45.
• Remote workers are growing and number allowing for the opportunity to live anywhere
• The most likely candidates in our target audience are those that have current or previous ties to the community in some
form or fashion.
• We do not currently have a targeted marketing campaign addressing the above.
• We believe our community can do better at recognizing and welcoming those that might have interest in relocating to the
Houlton/Southern Aroostook area.
In a nutshell, the three avenues that will address the above items are:

1. Alumni Outreach – The HHS alumni organization is a well-oiled machine. This is the lowest hanging fruit
because they know our area the best. We have begun to put promotional ads in the newsletter focused on returning to
Houlton to live.

2. Direct Marketing Campaign – An organized and well-funded traditional and non-traditional campaign to reach
a specific target audience in a specific region encouraging them to consider this area for relocation.

3. Ambassador Program – Establishing a purposeful ambassador program. Regular dialogue with a select group
of people to help identify potential new residents and improve our one-on-one interaction with those that might show
interest in the area.

We will continue to keep you abreast of how things are progressing in your hometown in future editions of the North Star
News.

Alumni Golf Scramble

Saturday, July 6th
RE-CAP

Houlton High School Alumni Association held its annual
Golf Scramble on July 6, 2019. There were 39 players.
20 19 The first place went to the team of Sean Dolomont, Peter

Stanley, and Drew and Toni Marino who shot a gross eight
under par 28. Second place winners were the team of
Ryan Brewer, Dakota Sleeper, and Bob Cleary. Third place
went to Kayla and Manny Martinez, Mike Fleming
and Al Condon.

www.houltonalumni.com PAGE 20