New organization geared toward promoting young adults, county

    PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – A new Aroostook County group aimed at young adults is gaining momentum.
Momentum Aroostook is a networking group for people ages 20 to 40 who want to make a difference in the region, meet and mingle with people of similar ages and interests, and make the area a better place to live, work and play for all generations.     “Last year, Jay Trainer and I sat down to discuss the idea of starting such a group in Aroostook County,” said Nathan Berry of Momentum Aroostook. “I then met with people of Bangor Fusion, a very similar group in Bangor, to see what they have done.
“We took some of their ideas and started calling and e-mailing people to see if we could get enough interest to get a group started up here to essentially promote other people throughout Aroostook County,” he said, “and more importantly, to promote activities, events, businesses and things people in that demographic might not know about but would be interested in whether that be the Crown of Maine Balloon Fest or even a hike at the Nordic Heritage Sports Center because most people haven’t been up there.”
Berry said while the initial brainstorming session was a year ago, the wheels have really been turning for the last four months.
“We have an informal membership of about 30 people,” he said, “but I’m confident we’ll be able to double that quite easily.”
There are no dues, and the age requirement is the only criteria to become a member.
“White collar, blue collar, men, women … anyone interested in networking with other people is invited to join,” said Berry. “We’d also like to see people in their junior and senior year in college join, especially the local institutions, and maybe keep them in the area.
“Most of the people we have right now have young children, so our group is going to be very family-based,” he said.
Momentum Aroostook is modeled after the REALIZE!Maine initiative, the outcome of Gov. John E. Baldacci’s Summit on Youth Migration in June 2004.
REALIZE!Maine works to support existing and help catalyze new regional young persons groups; provide a one-stop-shop Web site for career, living and playing resources; build awareness of REALIZE!Maine and opportunities in Maine for young people; develop new initiatives, such as internships, mentoring, leadership development, and civic engagement opportunities; and support companion programs and initiatives such as the Maine Downtown Center, the Creative Economy Council, and Opportunity Maine.
Berry said he views Momentum Aroostook as an organization that can parallel groups such as Aroostook Partnership for Progress.
“APP does a lot of recruiting of businesses,” he said, “and I can see us saying, ‘OK, well you’ve got a business … now you need to recruit people and need people to know what the area has’ and maybe we can help them in that regard.
“We have five or six people in our group who grew up in Presque Isle, moved away, and then came back to the area,” said Berry. “Momentum Aroostook is a way for them to get back into the community with other people their age as opposed to just joining Rotary or the Chamber.”
In addition to monthly meetings, Momentum Aroostook is planning a number of activities including a horse-drawn sleigh ride, and having a group involved in promoting the Braden Theater.
“We want to help get the word out,” said Berry. “We don’t want to take the place of the Chamber of Commerce, but we want to be visible.”
Though not a dating service, Berry said the organization is geared toward the social experience.
“We’re probably 75 percent social,” he said. “Just good, old-fashioned meeting people. I think we’re so dependent on computers these days … we’re e-mailing people and we’re on the Web … you lose the personal touch. We exist to help meet other people and promote the county.
“This type of organization was lacking in our area,” said Berry. “I grew up in Houlton, went away to school in Bangor, and moved to Presque Isle 10 years ago, so I didn’t really know a lot of people. I’m almost 32, and I think this is something that would have really benefited me the last 10 years if it had been here. I think Momentum Aroostook will be able to help the next generation.”
For more information on Momentum Aroostook, log onto www.momentumaroostook.com or e-mail berry at nberry@barresibenefits.com.