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V O L . X X V I I N O. V I I A P R I L 5 , 2 0 2 1 24 B A N K I N G / F I N A N C E / I N S U R A N C E Manufacturing and more e nature of what GO Lab will pro- duce is tricky as far as investment goes. "Manufacturing for a long time in the United States hasn't seen a lot of investment," Henry says. On top of it, the FAME conduit bonds are capped at $10 million for manufacturing, says Chris Roney, FAME's general counsel. But since Timber HP is made from cast-off timber industry prod- ucts, it fit another category with no such cap — solid waste. e bond is one of the largest con- duit bonds FAME has issued, Roney says. He worked with GO Lab as they figured out the financing. "e evolution has been interesting," he says. He says the product more than meets the criteria it needs to qualify for the bonds — benefit the state's economy and create jobs. Aside from the boost to the timber industry and environment, "it will create a substan- tial number of jobs in an economically challenged part of the state." Pivotal marketing hire Henry says as the project gained trac- tion over the summer, the staff, includ- ing some who worked at the mill before it shut down in 2015, were key. "We've hired a lot of really good people who've just dug in," he says. ey also hired Scott Dionne as chief marketing officer, which was pivotal, Henry and O'Malia say. ey bought the equipment, they bought the mill, O'Malia says. ey loved their product. But something was missing. "We had the bones of how to produce the product, but not from the market approach side," he says. Investors wanted to know things like "How are you going to go to market? How does this even flesh out?" Dionne, who'd been vice presi- dent of operations for S.W. Collins in Caribou for more than 13 years, was an industry expert they wanted on board. When Henry called him last summer, Dionne spent two hours grilling him. "I said, 'I understand it's a great sustainable, environmentally sound product, but it doesn't matter. If it doesn't perform, no one's going to buy it,'" Dionne says. e name, Timber HP — HP for "high performance" — matters, he says. "You have to be high performance first, then you can start talking about a healthy planet and healthy people," he says. "If you're going to mainstream, you're going to have to mainstream on performance." When investors understood the approach to market, Henry says, "ey were coming out of that conservative mindset, the pandemic put in people's heads and looking for things to invest in. We were ready at that point with a really fresh approach that [Dionne] had guided us to." O'Malia adds, "We don't enter the market as a niche product, but as one that's scalable for a national market." It's worked to the point that the prod- uct is now being watched on a national scale to see what happens, Henry says. GO Lab is also looking to expand to the timber-rich Northwest. O'Malia and Henry say the year was tough, but there was no thought of quitting. "From the day we set forth doing it, there was never a question of whether we were going to complete it," Henry says. "Our mindset was we are going to figure this out, we're not just going to get ourselves and our families, the com- munity involved, then back away." Maureen Milliken, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at mmilliken @ mainebiz.biz Confused about payroll or time and attendance during these uncertain times? We're not. Call now, gain a partnerfor the long haul. Time & Attendance Solutions Payroll Processing Worker's Comp Pay-As-You-Go Real People. Really Great Service. 8 0 0 -7 3 4 - 6 8 8 0 PAYROLLMGT.COM » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E GO Lab financing G O Lab has leveraged financing from several sources for various parts of its Timber HP startup, including buying the mill property, buying the equipment and bringing it over from Germany, redevelopment of the property and more. FAME: Besides the conduit bond, $860,000 in Seed Capital Tax Credit financing and a direct loan of $1,200,000, with FAME as lead lender at $500,000. Coastal Enterprises Inc.: $250,000 Maine Technology Institute: $200,000 Eastern Maine Development Corp.: $250,000 loan Maine Rural Development Authority: $500,000 Town of Madison: $400,000 loan, which includes a Community Development Block Grant contribu- tion through the state Department of Economic and Community Development of $300,000, which will be used for engineering costs. Somerset Economic Development Corp.: $300,000 loan P H O T O / F R E D F I E L D Scott Dionne, CMO for GO Lab, demonstrates the relative fire resistance of different types of insulation. F O C U S I said, 'I understand it's a great sustainable, environmentally sound product, but it doesn't matter. If it doesn't perform, no one's going to buy it. — Scott Dionne GO Lab

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