Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. V M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 9 6 Day trips soar, but overnight visitors spend more Fall day trips in Maine in 2018 were up significantly from 2017, accord- ing to a report from the Maine State Office of Tourism, but overnight visitors more money. e report, compiled by Davidson Peterson Associates of Portland, surveyed 1,226 travelers in Maine from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30. Overall, an estimated 12.6 million people visited the state in the fall, up 2.1%. Of those, 7.2 million stayed overnight and 5.4 million vis- ited for the day. While the overnight figure showed an increase of 0.5% from the year before, day trips were up 6.1%. Of the day-trippers surveyed, 68% were from outside of Maine, with the largest representation, 37%, from Massachusetts. e average age of overnight visitors was 40; daytime visitor average age was 43. Federal shutdown shut down some home sales e recent federal government shutdown delayed some real estate transactions that were dependent on federal government-guaranteed loans, according to a Feb. 21 Maine Listings news release. "Time will tell how much of the January and roll- ing quarter decreases are attributable to the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history, which ended Jan. 25," said Peter Harrington, president of the Maine Association of Realtors and broker/partner with Malone Commercial Brokers. Sales declined by 12.9% fewer sales of existing single-family homes, measuring January against the same month last year. e median sales price was unchanged at $200,000. Nationwide, sales declined 8.4% and the median sales price increased 3.1%, to $249,400 for the same period, according to the National Association of Realtors. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E Payless ShoeSource Inc., a discount footwear retailer based in Topeka, Kansas, said it will liquidate more than 2,100 stories in the United States, including Maine stores in South Portland (Maine Mall), Windham, Auburn, Westbrook, Bangor, Augusta and Waterville. 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 New composites site at Brunswick Landing keeps focus on manufacturing B y M a u r e e n M i l l i k e n B R U N S W I C K — While the new composites layup area at Brunswick Landing's TechPlace may only be 2,600 of the 95,000-square-foot shared space, it's expected to play a big role. The area — which allows manufacturers to do composites work without the investment in that type of space — should draw more manufacturers to the site, says Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which oversees the 3,200-acre campus. Manufacturing has always been a big part of the develop- ment of the former Navy air base, which has 120 businesses entities on site, representing 1,800 jobs. "There's a high volume of job creation and stability," with manufacturing, Levesque says. "It has more economic impact [than other sectors]." Levesque says manufacturing in general creates or sup- ports six to eight secondary or tertiary jobs for every one manufacturing job, as opposed to the two or three of, for instance, a back office operation. The composites layup area, which officially opened Feb. 13 but has been in use for a few months, gives manufacturers the resources to apply composites by hand. The temperature- controlled building has a room-sized oven that can manufacture aerospace-quality components, as well as other products. The new space, which also includes a smaller oven, adja- cent paint booth and more, has enough space to build aircraft fuselages and other parts for smaller planes, or for other applications, including boat-building and other marine products. The space cost $1 million, something beyond the budgets of many businesses. Levesque says Brunswick Landing companies, includ- ing Atol Aviation and Clamar Floats, are already using the area. Companies from outside Brunswick Landing, includ- ing from out of state, also have used it or have expressed an interest. Levesque says the new facility is expected to lure more businesses, including small-scale manufacturers, to the campus to stay. "Our hope is that they'll come and use it frequently," and then move there, he says. The layup area is a complement to Brunswick Landing's composites cluster, a key to growth on the campus. "Atol wouldn't be here if it weren't for our composites focus," he says. TechPlace, Brunswick Landing's business accelera- tor, which houses 38 companies, also has a Composites Engineering Research Lab. The lab works with businesses and the Maine Composites Alliance, also in TechPlace, to address research and engineering needs in composites and material science and to make businesses more competitive and productive in the global marketplace. Aside from the composites focus, the campus in general is suited to the kind of manufacturing that surrounds com- posites and other advanced materials. The building at 74 Orion St. that houses TechPlace, which opened in 2015, had been the Navy's Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department, where P3 Orion aircraft based at the base were repaired and maintained. The infrastructure that remains from the Navy air base was, in many ways, made for manufacturing. The layup facility was paid for with a $495,165 grant from the Maine Technology Institute, awarded in 2016, and another from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. B R I E F P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M R R A Steve Levesque, executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, speaks at the opening of the new composite layup area at Brunswick Landing's TechPlace. Also pictured are, at left, Steve Savoie, manager of the facility, Maine Technology Institute President Brian Whitney, and fourth from left, Gov. Janet Mills.

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