Mobilize Northern Maine goals to be updated   

   CARIBOU - Additional data, the changing global economy and new opportunities are prompting a revisit this fall of the five-year goals established in the Mobilize Northern Maine planning process.

   Since 2009, Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP) has been working with consultants from ViTAL Economy as well as community and industry leaders to craft and implement the asset based economic development plan. That process involved establishing five-year goals, mapping the region's indigenous assets, and conducting an in-depth analysis for two industry clusters: Renewable Energy and Information Technology/Operations Centers.

   "With every strategic plan it's good to review them periodically to see what has changed, what should our goals be going forward," said Bob Dorsey, president of APP.

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  Progress is being made in some areas of the 2015 goals, labor participation rate is at 58 percent, regional gross domestic product tops 3 billion dollars and per capita income is growing. But in other areas, such as population, there has been regression.

   "We want to get the original goal team together - as many of them as possible - and augment that with people from APP and personally I would like to see a few new faces as well and get through this process this fall," he said.

   Mark Madsen, the chief economist for ViTAL Economy said the Mobilize Maine plan is not meant to gather dust on a shelf.

   "We may see new challenges or opportunities come up, so it is continually revisited," said Madsen.

   Dorsey added it will be a much less complicated endeavor this time since the community has already gone through the Mobilize Maine process.

   "So hopefully by the start of 2013 we will have refined our goals and have identified our industry clusters," he said.

   More information can be found at www.mobilizenorthernmaine.com.  

   ASHLAND - An Ashland pellet mill is getting a check from the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the advanced biofuel producers program.

   Northeast Pellets LLC will receive $624 for wood pellet production. Northeast Pellets was among 125 biofuel producers nationwide to receive payments designed to support the production and expansion of advanced biofuels from a wide variety of sources, including waste products.

   The funding is being provided through USDA's Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. Under this program, payments are made to eligible producers based on the amount of biofuels a recipient produces from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch.

   Matt Bell, president of Northeast Pellets LLC, serves as a member of the Aroostook Partnership for Progress Biomass Working Group.

   Two other Maine companies, Geneva Wood Fuels of Strong and Maine Wood Pellets Company of Athens, received $2,223 and $6,277 respectively.