‘Branding’ Moosehead Lake region is vital to its growth

By Luke Muzzy

    There’s something special about the Moosehead Lake Region known to everyone who has ever crested Indian Hill and felt inspired by the expansive view of Maine’s largest lake as they enter Greenville.
    But for those who don’t know this place first-hand, they typically rely upon what they can learn on the Internet about the region 3,000 people call home.

    Other regions across America and the world have recognized the need to focus their efforts and have a common, genuine message for who and what they are.
    The Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation, a fledgling but determined non-profit group which formed late in 2013 to improve the economy of the entire 1-million-acre Moosehead Lake Region, recognizes the need to embrace an effective brand and use this as the common message to market the region to the world. The purpose of the brand is to answer the question, “Why Moosehead Lake?” — a rhetorical question asked by visitors and investors alike who have numerous options closer to their homes.
    To answer that question, the MLREDC has secured funding and hired the acclaimed brand development consulting firm Roger Brooks International to work with a 17- member regional brand development team to figure this out.
    The local group’s efforts, pulling from existing literature and personal experiences as well as the over 1,400 responses to a month-long online survey about perspectives on the region, will result in a brand development guide this spring which is intended to inform revitalization efforts as well as future marketing.
    The goal is to have more money enter the region than exits each year.
    The non-profit MLREDC focused its efforts in 2014 and will continue in 2015 on the regional branding effort. But in 2014 the group also secured a master lease for the town of Greenville’s Business Incubator, renamed it the Greenville Business Center and subsequently leased the space to GlacierWear, a fur and leather company which now employs over 10 people full-time. We’re excited to see the results of the branding effort this spring.
    Our group is confident this effort will result in a positive transformation of the Moosehead Lake Region in future years.
    Luke Muzzy of Greenville is president of the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation.