Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. X X V O C T O B E R 2 8 , 2 0 1 9 12 S tonington-based Greenhead Lobster, a family-owned Maine lobster business since 1997, opened a new 15,000-square-foot lobster processing facility in Bucksport in July. Owner Hugh Reynolds says he is transitioning his business to lobster pro- cessing after seeing live lobster export revenues reduced by as much as 80% as a result of retaliatory Chinese tariffs and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and European countries. "We're all but defeated in the Chinese live lobster market," says Reynolds. "at's a foregone conclusion. at's why we're now investing in lobster processing — to create new products and new markets in the U.S." Greenhead is just one of several lobster processing sites that have opened in recent months. Ready Seafood and Luke's Lobster have opened sites in Saco (more on that below). Lobster wholesalers and suppliers are turning to processing their lobsters in Maine to control costs and quality, focus more on the domestic market and have to ability to brand their products as Maine products. e investment coincides with some hard knocks the industry has taken from tariffs and the international trade war. e new sites have opened with a combination of fresh investment and by taking advan- tage of federal and local incentives. Reynolds says that before the tariffs and trade agreement impacted his live lobster business, he had been selling the company's lobsters to Canadian proces- sors, who would then sell the lobster back to U.S. food service businesses. e new vision for Greenhead is to process lobster in Maine instead, so that it can brand its lobster tails and meat as Maine lobsters to U.S. food service and retail businesses. Processing lobsters close to their source also increases quality, he says. "We can sell a totally Maine prod- uct," says Reynolds. "Maine has a great brand. We're branding Maine lobster as a high-end delicacy that is a treat for people to enjoy in restaurants. By processing in Maine, we can protect the quality of the products so that the Maine brand is upheld. e new facility's high-pressure pas- teurization process increases the quality and shelf-life of Greenhead's fresh and frozen lobster. Lobsters are processed through the new process to give them an instant, humane death. e tails are frozen raw and all of the remaining raw lobster meat is removed so that chefs and consumers have the freedom to prepare the meat as they prefer. e HPP process also allows Greenhead to cook the meat onsite to extend its shelf life. "e lobster industry is changing. We're starting to see a lot of outside capital and the industry is attractive for investors," says Reynolds. "It was the right time for us to build a processing plant and build our Stonington lobster Greenhead Lobster brand." Greenhead Lobster's new pro- cessing facility is in Bucksport's Buckstown Heritage Park, a 63-acre business park off Route 1. According to Reynolds, the town of Bucksport gave Greenhead Lobster the land for its new processing plant. (Note to entrepreneurs: e town's website is still offering free land in Buckstown Heritage Park for qualifying businesses.) Forty to 50 new jobs have been created with the opening of Greenhead Lobster's new process- ing facility. Reynolds estimates that the new Bucksport lobster processing plant will process approximately 3 to 4 million pounds of lobster annually. Ready Seafood opens site on Route 1 in Saco Ready Seafood is one of the largest live and processed lobster wholesalers in the country. e company buys and sells over 15 millions pounds of live and processed lobster each year, sourced from the Gulf of Maine and Canadian Maritimes. In September, Ready Seafood had a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new lobster pro- cessing plant on Route 1 in Saco. e new facility represents a $15 mil- lion investment and was funded by sev- eral grants and economic development programs. Construction of the facility was funded in part by an economic development program that was created as part of the new U.S. tax law. Former Gov. Paul LePage designated Saco as one of 32 federal "Opportunity Zones" in 2018. Businesses that relocate or open in these opportunity zones receive considerable tax breaks. e program is designed to act as an economic revital- izer for regions with long-standing economic challenges. e Maine Technology Institute invested $2.5 million in Ready Seafood's lobster processing plant as well, through a grant from its Maine Technology Asset Fund. MTI provides grants, loans, invest- ment funds and services to projects that foster economic growth and job creation in Maine. Ready Seafood also has a credit enhancement agreement with the city of Saco and received a federal Community Development Block Grant for construc- tion of the processing plant. Why the big investment? In 2017, the Maine lobster industry exported $200 F I L E P H O T O / DAV I D C L O U G H In 2017, the Maine lobster industry exported $200 million worth of wholesale lobster to Canada for processing. With recently opened processing sites, Maine lobster producers retains a key piece of the supply chain. Hugh Reynolds, owner of Stonington- based Greenhead Lobster, opened a 15,000-square-foot lobster processing facility in Bucksport. Filling in the lobster supply chain B y C a t h e r i n e B e r c e New processing sites are keeping dollars in Maine

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