Mainebiz

V I E W P O I N T S W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 3 O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 2 0 From the Editor A recent study commissioned by HospitalityMaine shows COVID's impact on the hospitality indus- try has been $1.7 billion in lost revenue. For an industry that's worth some $7 billion a year to Maine, that's a big dent. Hospitality — hotels, restaurants, attractions, tour companies — is Maine's second-largest largest industry, behind health care. Yet, just as the industry mobilized after 9/11, business owners quickly adapted. Restaurants shifted to outdoor dining or curbside pickup and hotels and attractions dusted off the "staycation" marketing playbook, used after 9/11 and the reces- sion of 2008-09. As Renee Cordes discovered in talking to five hoteliers on the midcoast and Downeast, the past seven months have been anything but static. Some made up lost business with a strong August and early fall. Others adjusted by focusing on the res- taurant's takeout business or food-and-beverage in general. Another plans to extend the season beyond the normal anksgiving closure through New Year's. "Hotel business check-ins" starts on Page 14. With restaurants closed for an extended period, the lobster industry felt the effects. To see how the pandemic has affected one lobstering area, Stonington on Deer Isle, Laurie Schreiber checked in with a lob- sterman, a processor and town officials. It hasn't been as bad as feared. See "Lobster rolls on" on Page 24. On the midcoast, real estate reporter Maureen Milliken looks at the steps being taken to redevelop the former state prison site in omaston. e prison was closed 15 years ago and the site is now green space, which has partly created the conflict. Some residents want it to stay parklike, while others are urging the town to stick to the original plan to redevelop the site. See "Where's the development?" on Page 20. Elsewhere in the issue, ornton Academy tops the annual list of Maine's largest private schools. See Page 32. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Featured @ Mainebiz.biz For a daily digest of Maine's top business news, sign up for the Mainebiz Daily Report at mainebiz.biz/enews Get Maine's business news daily at mainebiz.biz and on Twitter (@Mainebiz). Below is our most popular content for the two weeks from Sept. 28 to Oct. 11. 1. TV network will give away remodeled Portland home, but it's not for everyone 2. Bank breaks ground on $8M Westbrook operations center 3. Maine sets date for recreational marijuana sales 4. Luke's Lobster, Island Institute launching e-commerce platform for seafood producers 5. Next: Corinne Watson is, literally, thinking big in small spaces 6. Presque Isle-based MMG Insurance sets plan in motion for CEO transition 7. The lawyer behind 'CALL JOE,' Joe Bornstein, dies at age 74 8. Details emerge on use of $500M in grants from Harold Alfond Foundation 9. Fast-growing Maine manufacturer F3 MFG sold to Michigan company 10. Next: As he develops much-needed housing, Tom Watson is hooked on Maine P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F H G T V 1 bernsteinshur.com Be covered. BE SHUR. Excellence in practice, when you need it most. Corrections In the Giving Guide of Sept. 28, the email for Jeannette Andre, president and CEO of the Maine Philanthropy Center, was listed incorrectly. It should have been jeannette@mainephilanthropy.org In the Next issue of Oct. 5, the website for one of Kay Aikin's company's was listed incorrectly. It should have been www.dynamicgrid.ai Coastal economies slowed not stalled by pandemic

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