Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 F E B R UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 2 0 F O C U S S O U T H E R N M A I N E with us about our business, about our plans, about anything we needed," he says. "ey were proactive in reaching out." Saco has built that attitude into its mission, says Denise Clavette, direc- tor of planning and development. e city streamlined its application process by getting developers and city depart- ments into one meeting. "e review process shortens the development timeframe, because instead of essentially going back and forth between their design and engi- neering team and city staff, it's all done in one meeting," she says. Friendly sewer department ose floor drains and related infra- structure are significant considerations in the seafood world. Luke Holden, co- owner of Luke's Lobster Seafood Co., illustrates the point. Luke's, which has restaurants in the U.S. and Asia, opened its processing plant in Saco in 2012 to supply its own sites but also other restaurants and retailers, including Whole Foods. It found space where it could grow: a 50,000-square-foot production site for- merly occupied by Tom's of Maine and, before that, juice maker Fresh Samantha. Initially, Luke's took over just a quar- ter of the building, or 12,500 square feet. Today, production fills 40,000 square feet. Last year, Luke's processed 7 million pounds of lobster and other shellfish. Holden and co-owner Ben Conniff chose the industrial park to lease, then buy, an existing building for their pro- cessing plant for a couple of reasons. First, the 50,000-square-foot food production facility was sitting empty. But because of its previous uses, it was in good shape for what they had in mind. "Right before we purchased the prop- erty, Tom Chappell from Tom's of Maine was in the space," says Holden. "ey left great infrastructure behind, like a high- pressure boiler that otherwise costs a lot of money and takes a long time to get licensed and installed." C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » We are proud to have worked with Flowfold from the beginning, supporting them as they grew, and moving them into larger spaces when they were bulging at the seams. Call or Visit Us Online. Portland, ME dunhamgroup.com 207.773.7100 Local Knowledge. Regional Focus. Global Reach. So, they chose the Dunham Group to fold up the deal. Flowfold needed more space to manufacture minimalist gear... Drilling deep for success. S.W. Cole Engineering wanted to add a new business line which was capital intensive. CFO Jason Richard called Bar Harbor Bank & Trust to finance their new drilling business. With our understanding of the company, we helped them expand into this new line, grow their geographic reach and streamline their cash management. To see this and other success stories, go to www.barharbor.bank/success-stories. Call 207-669-6811 today to connect with our Commercial Banking team. We help businesses write their own success stories. Member FDIC Personal Banking · Business Banking · Wealth Management Over 50 locations in Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont " If I need anything, I can call my banker, Adam, and he gets it done." —Jason Richard The mayor would come here with from planning or code enforcement and talk with us about our business, about our plans, about anything we would need. — Shawn McEwen Sea Salt Lobster

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