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V O L . X X V I N O. X I I L E W I S T O N / A U B U R N / W E S T E R N M A I N E Connections are especially close between Kittery and Portsmouth, on either side of the Piscataqua River, and between Fryeburg and North Conway, N.H., home to outlet and other retail shopping. "Both states play off each other very well," says Chris Ferrigno, a trained scientific glass blower who owns the Great Atlantic Puffin Co., a medical marijuana dispensary, and Four Seasons Horitculture Supply in Fryeburg. "You have residents of Maine that use New Hampshire for certain things, and New Hampshire residents that use Maine for certain things." Fryeburg residents fre- quently hop over the border to shop at Hannaford and Walmart, for example. "It's a lot easier to go to North Conway than it is to Windham," he adds. Law and accounting It's not just border businesses that benefit from geography. In the professional ser- vices industry, Portland-based firms with a longstanding New Hampshire foot- print include law firm Pierce Atwood, where partner Michele Kenney heads a 17-attorney team, and accounting firm Baker Newman Noyes, with more than 25 employees in Portsmouth. Both have offices at the Pease International Trade Center business park in a former Air Force base that are currently empty as everyone works remotely. e firm opened a Manchester, N.H., office in 1999, but its most recent forays have been to Massachusetts, planting a flag in Boston in 2010 and Woburn in 2019. In Portsmouth since 2003, Baker Newman Noyes finds the waterfront town to be a "great bridge between Maine and Massachusetts," says the firm's managing principal, Dayton Benway. He says the proximity to Boston is useful in recruiting job can- didates from there, especially those with ties to Maine or New Hampshire — and hopes to be busy on that front again soon, saying: "We have a tem- porary freeze right now, but I feel like we're getting close to lifting that." C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 4 » P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY At some point, we're hoping we'll be from the top of New Hampshire to the bottom of New Hampshire. — Ryan Vincent Saco River Brewing J U N E 1 , 2 0 2 0 12 F O C U S E xpanding from Maine to New Hampshire next door isn't always easy, even from a few miles away — as Saco River Brewing in Fryeburg can attest. Barred from trucking its own beer across state lines to the Granite State, it started selling there in early April via Westbrook-based Vacationland Distributors LLC while selling mainly canned IPAs at its taproom purchased online for curbside pickup and dis- tributing to 80 wholesale accounts in Maine. Business is booming on both sides of the border. "Our distribution in New Hampshire started right when every- thing shut down, and it's worked out great," says Ryan Vincent, who owns Saco River with founder Mason Irish. "We're not sitting on any beer and selling out every two weeks with our distribution in Maine and New Hampshire." Vacationland founder and owner Nick Bezanson is seeing the same trend, saying: "eir beer is flying off the shelves up there." at's no mean feat in the eyes of Maine Brewers' Guild Executive Director Sean Sullivan, who notes, "Selling beer across state lines is not something that people do casually. It has to be well thought-out." at task completed, Saco River and Vacationland have big plans for their new partnership — just one manifestation of growing business links between the two states. Examples abound in sectors from manufacturing to retail, as well as financial and profes- sional services. Nick Bezanson Nick Bezanson, , founder and owner founder and owner of of Vacationland Vacationland Distributors Distributors, recently , recently helped helped Saco River Saco River Brewing Brewing, of Fryeburg, , of Fryeburg, expand into New expand into New Hampshire. Hampshire. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Saco River Brewing Saco River Brewing co- co- owners owners Mason Irish Mason Irish, left, , left, and and Ryan Vincent Ryan Vincent in in their brewery in Fryeburg their brewery in Fryeburg From beer to microwave manufacturing, Maine business ties with New Hampshire are growing B y R e n e e C o R d e s INTERSTATE COMMERCE

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