Mainebiz

V O L . X X I V N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 8 6 Hospitality group seeks greater voice in Maine's economy e Maine Innkeepers and Maine Restaurant associations will join forces to create HospitalityMaine. e com- bined organization will be headed by President and CEO Steve Hewins, who already leads both the innkeepers' and restaurant associations. "We need to be better recognized as an industry sec- tor," Hewins told Mainebiz via email. "HospitalityMaine will seek to have a 'seat at the table' in any discussion, ini- tiative or plan to grow the state's econ- omy, including encouraging people to move here and for young people to stay here." e new association will be offi- cially announced at the second annual Maine Hospitality Summit, Oct. 29 and 30 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Maine's hospitality sector has had nine straight years of annual record growth since the recession and is expected to set a new record for 2018. According to figures provided by Maine Revenue Services, taxable retail sales for restaurants and hotels went from $2.5 billion in 2009 to $3.8 billion in 2017. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced that the Maine State Police received $1 million from the Department of Transportation's fiscal year 2018 High Priority Grant Program to im- prove Commercial Motor Vehicle safety and training. USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture awarded three Maine organi- zations more than $1 million to recruit and train beginning farmers as well B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E Portland's premier furnished short and long term rentals 2 2 5 C U M B E R L A N D A V E . , P O R T L A N D 2 0 7 . 7 7 4 . 5 3 5 8 P O R T L A N D M A I N E R E N TA L S .C O M Buyer saves Fork Food Lab, but must tackle debt B y R e n e e C o r d e s P o r t l a n d — The new owner of Fork Food Lab laid out plans to boost membership and reduce its debt — this time as a nonprofit. The shared commercial kitchen and food business incuba- tor, which is in the West Bayside neighborhood, has already established its presence. It has helped launch entrepreneurs like Sky Stoll of Sky's Café in Yarmouth, Maddie Purcell of Fyood Kitchen and Nina Murray of Mill Cove Baking Co. "Our future is looking bright, but we must do a couple things," Bill Seretta, president of the Sustainability Lab, said. Plans for the coming year include boosting Fork Food Lab's membership from 25 businesses to 45, and raising $250,000 to eliminate debt, he said. Seretta, who is based in Yarmouth, struck a deal with building owner Forq LLC to take over Fork Food Lab operations from Pilotworks — a New York-based firm with similar food incubators in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Chicago, Dallas and Newark, N.J. The change in ownership comes two months after Pilotworks abruptly announced plans to close Fork Food Lab at the end of September. "Everyone said it should continue," Seretta said, "and we decided to take that on," which was easier to do as a nonprofit. Kitchen space with 'fun energy' Jenn Stein, general manager of Fork Food Lab, said Seretta's deal came as a "great relief." She said that while there are busy days and quiet days at the 5,000-square-foot space, "it's always a fun energy." Fork Food Lab members can reserve hour-long blocks of time when they wish for use of a prep table, access to equipment, cold and dry storage, and all the paper goods and sanitary supplies. Besides use of the space, members value collaboration with fellow entrepreneurs, like sharing tips on suppliers or going together to farmers' markets. Some of that energy was evident in a recent visit to the venue. Bolivia native Adrian Espinoza of Empanada Club was rolling chicken- and vegetable-filled empanadas. Not far away, Tara Canaday of Suga Suga was mixing ingredients for the French macaroons she sells throughout Portland. Between tasks Canaday told Mainebiz that she moved here from Boston this summer, lured in part by Portland's thriv- ing food scene. She hopes to add to that through stand-out flavors like blueberry cheesecake, saying, "I try not to do traditional French macarons." Seretta said he was familiar with Fork as the first winner of his organization's New England Food System Innovation Challenge in 2015. He warned that that losing a "corner- stone of the startup community" would have come at a great cost to Portland, Bon Appetit magazine's 2018 restaurant city of the year. "If you lose that traction," he said, "you can't get it back." Two or three people are already approaching potential donors and the organization is also pursuing a couple of grants to help fill the void, he said. "I think it's going to take several months to get there." B R I E F P H O T O S / R E N E E C O R D E S TOP: Tara Canaday, owner of Suga Suga, bakes French macaroons and other treats at Fork Food Lab. She recently moved to Portland from Boston. BOTTOM: Bill Seretta, president of the Sustainability Lab, at Portland's Fork Food Lab with general manager Jenn Stein, a day after the Yarmouth-based nonprofit became the new owner of the shared commercial kitchen and food incubator.

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