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V O L . X X V N O. X I M AY 2 7 , 2 0 1 9 16 L E W I S T O N / A U B U R N & C E N T R A L M A I N E F O C U S entice new businesses like outdoor-gear shops, new markets like novices and youngsters in search of beginner trails, and new events like races. Bethel's hap- pening vibe is bringing back people who grew up here, left and returned for the lifestyle. Gabe Perkins is a returnee. So is Wade Kavanaugh, an artist who, with his wife Beth, opened e Gem movie theater and co-working space in 2016 as a year-round endeavor. "A lot more people are retiring here or starting to work remotely here," says Kavanaugh. "People move here for the outdoors." Sunday River, too, has increasingly adjusted its wintertime skiing focus to year-round multi-use activities like hiking, disc golf, conferences and weddings. Over the past seven years, Sunday River has doubled the number of weddings and tripled the number of summertime leisure and conference groups, says director of communications Karolyn Castaldo. "It's a reverse synergy: In the summer more traffic goes to Bethel, then trickles up the mountain," Castaldo says. "In the winter, Sunday River is a big draw that trickles into town through lodging and dining options." Trail expansions boost that rela- tionship, Castaldo says. "Having a trail network and community forest will bring in more people looking for true outdoor experience," she predicts. Year-round attractions e Bethel-Sunday River relationship reflects the broader trend of ski regions trying to create year-round econo- mies, says Greg Sweetser, Maine Ski Association's executive director. "Off-season activities are spreading," Sweetser says. "Places like Sunday River and Sugarloaf are major year-round businesses now." Winter remains king. But there's a growing warm-weather trail economy. Building trails between towns and mountains is a game-changer that offers new destination options and benefits businesses, employment and real estate sales, he says. Other areas follow a similar model. For example, nearby Mt. Abram is developing a mountain bike park, expected to open in 2020. Programming includes partnership with bike shops and races. Together, notes Sweetser, trail con- struction is expected to boost the Bethel region as a destination, in turn tapping into other recreational sectors like lake- boating east of Mt. Abram. As a result, the Bethel Inn & Resort is starting to see visitor diversifica- tion, says Brad Jerome, the inn's general manager. "We're attracting more hikers and bikers," Jerome says. "We're branching out to more golfers." e relationship between Bethel and Sunday River benefits in part from the free Mountain Explorer shuttle bus operated by Western Maine Transportation Services. "at's grown over the years, with people heading down the moun- tain to eat, and then back up to ski," Jerome adds. Emerging challenges As with other vacation destinations, the worker shortage and lack of affordable housing are pressing issues. "e days are over of just putting help-wanted ads in the paper," says Jerome. "is spring, we hosted our first job fair," drawing 25 to 30 people from Bethel and surrounding towns, looking for four-season employment. Transportation has always been an issue is recruiting employees, but Western Maine Transportation has a new commuter bus service that is helping, he says. Sunday River, which employs 1,500 in the winter and up to 600 in the summer, generally has a stable work- force, says Castaldo. Many seasonal employees find summer work else- where and return to Sunday River for the winter. But the resort is feeling the afford- able housing pinch. To alleviate the problem last winter, it rented 116 hotel rooms for employees. It is exploring additional options for next winter. While Sunday River has the "fire- power" to fulfill such needs, as Jessie Perkins says, it's harder for smaller business to find employees. BJ Otten, president and CEO of Maine Energy Systems, says his heating business is winter-oriented, so he com- petes with the ski resorts for employees. "Our strategy this year was to distribute the workload throughout a longer day, to make up for the volume of business and lack of workforce," he says. He has also forged relationships with seasonal businesses like farms and building contractors, whose great- est need for help is in warmer months, thus cobbling together year-round work for employees. Bethel is a microcosm of the state, says Bethel Inn Resort owner Dick Rasor. "We embrace the fact that we have one outstanding product, and that's recreation," Rasor says. "ere's just about every kind of recreation you can think in this little town of less than 2,500 people. Camping, fishing, hik- ing have always been there. Now have two major golf courses, so we're a golf destination, too. e trail network is unbelievable for hiking, cross-country skiing, mountain-biking, fat-tire bik- ing, you name it. at's expanded mon- umentally over the past few years. It's fostered a whole bunch of restaurants in town and other offshoots. So it's not just having diversity, which Bethel has always had. It's the expansion of that recreation product." Laurie Schreiber, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at lschreiber @ mainebiz.biz » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 1 4 All aboard V arious interests have been trying to restore passenger train service to Bethel, to further stimulate four-season economic activity. Passenger rail into Bethel once thrived; it ended in 1960. For several years in the early 1990s, a so-called winter "ski train" transported passengers from Portland to Bethel. In 2011, the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, with the Maine Rail Transit Coalition, Grow Smart Maine and New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Tillotson Fund, began discussions to restore passenger rail. Today, the state Legislature is considering bills to extend passenger service to Lewiston-Auburn. If that goes through, the idea is to extend service to Bethel, says Tony Donovan, a commercial realtor working with THA Architects to revitalize a 25-acre subdivision that includes Bethel Train Station, currently occupied by the chamber of commerce; a 400-foot train platform that's the only Amtrak-serviceable platform between Portland and Canada; and residential and commercial uses. "We know this location in the ski-resort and outdoor recreation region of western Maine is going to attract a wide range of residents and investors who will take advantage of the potential for passenger train service between Boston and Montreal," Donovan says in a news release. Chamber Executive Director Jessie Perkins favors the effort. "We get calls from people asking, 'How do we get to Bethel from Portland?'" she says. Others are skeptical of the effort's potential for success. "It's a long shot," says Mia Purcell, Community Concepts Finance Corp.'s vice president of eco- nomic development and impact. Purcell notes the plan to bring service to Lewiston-Auburn is promising. "But then we've got to bring it from there to Oxford County. That's a whole other effort," she says. "It could be a long time. But we're sticking with it." The Androscoggin River flows through the town of Bethel. P H O T O / F R E D F I E L D

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