Maine Forest Products Council Executive Director Patrick Strauch, standing, addresses the Aroostook Partnership Progress board of directors and guests at the October monthly meeting held at Acadia Federal Credit Union in Fort Kent. From left around the table are: Strauch; Bob Dorsey, APP President; Sylvia Getman, CEO TAMC, Dave Desjardins, CEO AFCU; Carl Theriault; Don Guimond, Fort Kent Town Manager; Larry Shaw, CEO MMG Insurance; and Matt McHatten, chief operating officer MMG Insurance.

   FORT KENT - The total economic impact of the forest economy in Maine is estimated to be $8 billion and one out of every 20 jobs in the state is associated with the forest products sector. Those were just two of the more eye opening statistics provided by Patrick Strauch, executive director of the Maine Forest Products Council, to the Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP) board of directors at their monthly meeting held Friday at Acadia Federal Credit Union in Fort Kent.

   Strauch, invited to speak to the group because of APP's efforts to grow the forest economy, detailed information from the just released Maine's Forest Economy report.

   "Maine's forests are in a healthy state," said Strauch. "With this report we want to educate legislators and the public about the industry. I think there are opportunities in Maine in natural resources that are exciting. There will be challenges, but there are resources we can use."

    "The Maine Forest Economy report is an excellent effort and one our Forestry Tiger Team strongly recommended," according to APP President Bob Dorsey. "In our Mobilize Northern Maine initiative, we identified the Forestry Industry as one of our greatest strengths with possibly the largest potential for growth but in order for us to track progress, we must have a basis to benchmark from - this report provides that basis."

   Other highlights from the report, which is available on the Maine Forest Products Council website, maineforest.org, include:

• Total direct and indirect employment, 38,789
• Employment in Aroostook County, 6,749
• Total payroll, $1.9 billion per year
• Total taxes paid, $302 million per year
• Total annual harvest, 13.5 million green tons (5.4 million cords)

   The report also looks at worker demographics, changes in the industry over the past 50 plus years, the importance of trucking, spruce budworm history and the potential for another occurrence, and more.

   Also at the meeting, Stacy Martin, of the Market Street Co-op in Fort Kent, updated the board of directors and guest about progress in establishing the co-op. Martin said, although she could not give a definite date to when the doors would open, she is hopeful for a mid November launch, but that may be optimistic. Just last month at the board of director meeting at York's of Houlton, Meg York introduced the concept of a food co-op and food hub in Southern Aroostook.

   This was the second consecutive meeting conducted at a new investor's location. Dorsey thanked Acadia Federal Credit Union for their hospitality. He added it will be the practice of APP to schedule more meetings and functions in all areas of Aroostook.

   "The Partnership wants to get out to all areas of Aroostook County to engage business and community leaders," said Dorsey. "We plan to take more on these meetings on the road, because it will take an entire County effort to overcome our economic challenges."

   The Chairwoman and CEO of KeyCorp (Key Bank is a long time investor in the Partnership) was recently selected number one on an exclusive list. The trade publication American Banker listed Beth Mooney as the most powerful woman in banking.

   Here is an excerpt from the article:

   Beth Mooney, who began her banking career at Republic Bank of Texas in the 1970s, vividly recalls the days when she was the only woman in managers' meetings. Now, as one of the few women running a major banking company-and the only female CEO at a top 20 U.S.-based bank-she says she feels an obligation to nurture female talent. She's doing just that, announcing key hires and promotions of women, and pressing recruiters who work with the bank to provide more diverse slates of candidates in general.

   She's also focused on what may be banks' greatest single challenge these days: growing revenue. She has addressed the issue head on by buying back a credit card portfolio, acquiring roughly three dozen branches in upstate New York and beefing up Key's commercial mortgage servicing portfolio. She's also spearheading an efficiency drive that puts the bank on pace to trim overhead by roughly $200 million a year through branch consolidation and other cost-cutting measures.

   Those moves are a big reason by Key's share price is up nearly 40 percent over the past year, outpacing the KBW Bank Index and the Standard & Poor's 500. (See Mooney's full profile here.) 

Project Canopy Grant Process Overview

     Thursday October 17, 2013 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

NMDC, depending on interest, will host a meeting on applying for Project Canopy Assistance Grants. Project Canopy, a partnership between the Maine Forest Service and GrowSmart Maine, anticipates $100,000 will be available to support community forest projects in the state.

APP/LEAD Annual Breakfast Meeting

Thursday October 31, 2013 from 7:30 AM to 9 AM

University of Maine System Chancellor James Page will deliver the keynote address at the Aroostook Partnership for Progress/LEADers Encouraging Aroostook Development annual meeting at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 31 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle Campus Center.