Maine Winter Sports Center named Caribou Business of the Year
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — The back-to-back World Cup Biathlon events held in Fort Kent and Presque Isle — orchestrated by the Maine Winter Sports Center and an army of volunteers — brought in an estimated $10 million to The County. This was one reason why directors with the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce selected Maine Winter Sports Center to be the 2011 Caribou Business of the Year.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Andy Shepard, president and CEO of the Maine Winter Sports Center, received the Caribou Business of the Year Award from the Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce, as presented by City Manager Steve Buck.
The second reason, as explained by Caribou City Manager Steve Buck, is “for what they have done for our region in healthy lifestyles and outdoor year-round sports,” he said. “Programs such as Healthy Hometowns have engaged nearly 100 Maine communities with over 6,500 Maine children actively involved each year.”
Founded in 1999, the Maine Winter Sports Center was the brainchild of President and CEO Andy Shepard, forged through the collaboration between Shepard and the representatives of the Libra Foundation. Through The Libra Foundation’s support, northern Maine has embraced the cultural and physical aspects of skiing and has an opportunity to participate in the sport through the 10th Mountain Lodge in Fort Kent, the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle and BigRock in Mars Hill. Over the years, MWSC has brought a multitude of world-class events to the area, including the Junior Nationals, Senior Nationals, North American Biathlon and Cross County Championships along with the World Cup events.
“There is a Chinese proverb that says ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ Maine Winter Sports Center has given us the ‘fish’ of world class venues, but more importantly they have taught Aroostook County how to host world-renowned biathlon events,” Buck said. “We’ve been taught to fish, the Swedish way, on skis.”
Buck presented Shepard with the award on April 1, during the Caribou Chamber’s Annual Recognition Dinner at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center.
“Maine Winter Sports has invested in us and we have worked alongside them to amplify their mission. We are promoting healthy lifestyles, especially Nordic skiing,” Buck said. “We would like to honor the Maine Winter Sports Center for all that they have given us, for all that they continue to give us, and most importantly thank them for choosing us, Caribou, as their home to continue their investment in northern Maine.”
When presented with ample praise for MWSC’s impact on northern Maine, Shepard modestly stated that he would take credit for the idea 12 years ago, but credits the people and communities for continually ensuring the program’s success.
“It’s easy to look smart when you have people like this on your back and on your side,” he said. “Over the past 12 years the Maine Winter Sports Center, I can’t tell you how warmly we’ve felt about the people of Caribou.”
Not only was Shepard presented the Caribou Business of the Year award on behalf of MWSC, he was also a guest speaker for the recognition dinner, during which he described the long-lasting impression February’s World Cup Biathlon events have had (and continue to make) on bringing the world’s eyes to Aroostook County.
According to Shepard, there were 120 million TV viewers watching during the two weeks of World Cup Biathlon events in Presque Isle and Fort Kent.
“The impact of this was profound,” he said, citing that the advertising value of buying equivalent exposure would have cost about $12.5 million. How The County was represented — the volunteers, the facilities the crowds — has gone a long way in establishing the staying power of the Biathlon events. Shepard even told his audience that “we now have Europe enamored with Aroostook County.”
It’s a lofty statement, but Shepard had the figures to back it up. In the 10-11 day duration of the Biathlon’s broadcast in Europe, the MWSC-founded webpage Discovernorthernmaine.com had 50,000 European visitors. The site, available in English, French and German, is geared toward promoting all-seasons tourism in northern Maine — highlighting annual activities like community festivals in the spring, biking in the summer, leaf-peeping in the fall and, of course, skiing in the winter.
Additional information regarding the MWSC can be obtained by visiting www.MaineWSC.com.
