Members of the Mobilize Northern Maine goal setting team gathered at NMDC Tuesday to set targets for 2017.

   CARIBOU - With the growing number of prospective jobs over the next five years coupled with the aging workforce and growing number of people eligible for retirement, members of the Mobilize Northern Maine goal setting team concluded that we will need to do more than just train and retain younger people in Aroostook County. Citing the 2010 census decrease in our middle age workers, the team has set a target of growing the 18- to 44-year-old population by 3 percent by 2017.

   Since 2009, the 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. 2015 goals were previously set based on 2007 data, but new census data and changes in the economy warranted an update. The latest steps were taken Tuesday, Nov. 13 at the Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) office in Caribou when team members found consensus on a number of goals. One major priority is growing the number of younger workers.

   "For an economy to be sustainable it is desirable for a region's 18- to 44-year-old demographic to be at least 35 percent of the working population," said Mark Madsen, chief economist for ViTAL Economy. "In the Aroostook-Washington Economic Development District in the 2010 census it was about 29 percent."

   A 3 percent increase in the 18- to 44-year-old population would be an addition of roughly 3,000 people to the region, which APP President Bob Dorsey said is an ambitious goal, but underscores just how serious the problem of an aging workforce in Aroostook County is.

   "It is clear from the declining workforce trends that we are facing a challenge in retaining and growing our business base," Dorsey summarized after the meeting.

   The group also set another goal of increasing the labor force participation rate to 62 percent by 2017. That is one area which has shown improvement since the first round of goal setting in 2009. The previous team members set a target of 57.5 percent by 2015 and the 2010 census revealed a labor participation rate of 58 percent.

   Team members also agreed some of the original 2015 goals are still applicable in the new five year projection, like growing the average wage by 2.5 percent a year to about $36,000 by 2017.

   A subcommittee of educators will submit recommendations on what the targets should be for growing the numbers of County residents with bachelor's degrees or higher, associates degrees and professional certificates.

   From the goals set at this most recent meeting, ViTAL Economy can run the numbers through a model to determine other targets like total employed, total region wages and per capita income. From these goals strategies will be developed to achieve the targets.

   "The Mobilize Maine economic development strategy requires the community to collaborate by setting realistic and measurable goals affecting our regional economy, said F.A. Peabody Co. President Chris Anderson, who also participated in the process in 2009. "The basic principles apply here - if we don't know where we are how will we know when we get there and if you can't measure it you can't manage it. Goal setting creates a bar of success to guide our economic policies and actions. Analyzing and updating our goals tells us whether our actions are having the proper effect." 

   The next meeting, which hasn't been scheduled yet, will focus on industry clusters that may help achieve the agreed upon goals. In 2009 renewable energy and information technology were prioritized. Once the process is complete it faces approval of the APP board of directors.  

   In October the group's initial meeting was to discover trends in the industry sectors and one common thread across all industries was the need to find skilled workers, not just technical training, but basic communication, math and people skills.

   "I am thrilled that public schools have a seat at the table when establishing goals to will help shape Aroostook County over the next five to 10 years," said team member Tim Doak, superintendent SAD 27. "If our communities loose families or gain families, it has a direct effect on school systems."

   Mobilize Northern Maine goal setting team members in attendance included: Andrew Plant and Jay LaJoie (agriculture), Doak and Tim Crowley (education), Jane Towle (real estate), Dana Saucier (forestry), Doug Hazlett (insurance/municipal government), Anderson (insurance/information technology) and Scott Thompson (tourism). Participating from NMDC/APP were: Dorsey, Bob Clark, Ryan Pelletier, Alain Ouellette, Jon Gulliver and Mike Eisensmith.