Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I I N O. I JA N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 2 2 14 2 0 2 2 E C O N O M I C O U T L O O K F O C U S gardeners actually got more enthusi- astic about gardening as they worked from home, moved out of large, urban areas and paid more attention to their food, gardens and yards. "We're optimistic about that seg- ment in particular," Mehlhorn says. "It may settle down some, but it won't settle down to pre-pandemic levels." People's growing interest in the source of their food and in shopping locally has helped small and mid- sized farms. While there has been significant interest in those topics in the Northeast and along the West Coast for a long time, that interest is growing in parts of the country where it wasn't a topic of conversation 15 to 20 years ago, Mehlhorn says. Although some farmers were hurt by the pandemic closure of restau- rants, those that were able to increase their home deliveries or community support agriculture contributions did well. "Farmers got industrious and sur- vived pretty well," Mehlhorn says. Even though its key customer seg- ments did well despite the pandemic, Mehlhorn says operating a business in Maine still can be tough. "Almost every commercial you hear on the radio is for employment. Everyone is hiring and having trouble finding people," Mehlhorn says. "We tend to do well retaining workers once we get them in the door. We have a unique, positive culture and we're employee-owned. We're a mission- based company. e goal of the business is to help friends and family feed one another. So if the sensibili- ties match up, people tend to stay. It's finding them that's hard." In addition to hiring, Johnny's Seeds has also had to navigate supply chain problems. Mehlhorn said people tend to think of supply chain problems as container ships stuck in a port. But the reality is that there are labor shortages and pandemic-related problems worldwide. "We have tools that are made in France. ey had a shut down. at delays things. Seeds that need inspecting at the USDA get delayed because of staffing," Mehlhorn says. "Supply chain issues have been affecting life for a year and a half. We saw all of this developing at the beginning of the pandemic and we knew it would be difficult and stay difficult for a while. We planned for it very well." e outlook for Johnny's Seeds looks bright, Mehlhorn says. e trendy crops this year: crunchy lettuces and local flowers native to each region. A I R T R AV E L Up, up and away — cautiously — at Portland International Jetport B y W i l l i a m H a l l A t Maine's busiest airport, business has been climbing — and the altitude in 2022 could reach levels not seen since before the pandemic. Like other air transportation centers, Portland International Jetport saw pas- senger traffic plummet during the early outbreak of COVID. In fact, the num- ber of travelers boarding and deplaning in 2020 at PWM, 792,571, amounted to only 36% of the 2019 total. But as travel restrictions eased last year, the numbers began to turn around. One example: In August 2021, the Jetport handled 244,825 passen- gers, just slightly under the total of 251,375 for August 2019. Summer is the Jetport's key season, peaking in August. "We believe we will be close to 2019 volumes in 2022 so long as the sum- mer season is healthy," says Zachary Sundquist, assistant airport director. Surges in COVID infection may continue to affect traffic at the Jetport, he adds. e impact will primarily be on business travel. Until that rebounds, PWM will be more of a leisure destination, served largely by point-to-point flights. "COVID has really morphed many of the airline's views on flowing through hubs to more point-to-point service," Sundquist says. "Last summer we saw United Airlines offering nonstop service from 10 destinations. For this coming summer we've already seen Sun Country expand their frequency to Minneapolis, and Southwest has announced new nonstop service to Nashville." But he also cautions: "Until the pub- lic health concerns get more resolved we continue to see volatility in travel, and it's difficult to see many trends from a rapidly changing landscape." AQ U AC U LT U R E With diverse aquaculture industry, slow-but- steady growth B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r A dominant trend in Maine's aqua- culture industry over the past year is new distribution channels through retail and direct-to-consumer, says Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association. "We saw consumer starting to prepare seafood at home, something they might not have done in the past," he says. A great example is oysters, long consumed mostly at restaurants. "We've now got a tremendous mar- ket in retail and direct-to-consumer sales," he says. e industry is also seeing strong growth in out-of-state markets. Traditionally, many core Maine products — oysters, mussels, salmon — were distributed to local restaurants. "at continues to be the case, but out-of-state sales have strengthened," he says. "at's helped diversify and strengthen the market." As the industry grows, it needs better access to lease sites. "Demand for our product is very strong," Belle says. "Prices are typically higher than our competitors. But if we can't get lease sites, we won't continue to grow the sector." e hope is that new funding provided during the last legislative session will allow more hiring at the regulatory level to relieve application bottlenecks. Of various land-based projects in the pipeline, Belle says the furthest advanced is American Unagi, which grows elvers, or baby eels. Its success so far, he says, bodes wells for land- based farms projects. But he cautions: "e relation- ship between any project and the » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E David Mehlhorn, CEO of Johnny's Selected Seeds, says more people have started gardens during the pandemic. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F J O H N N Y ' S S E E D S Zachary Sundquist, assistant director at the Portland International Jetport, says airport volume will all depend on COVID infection rates. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F P O R T L A N D I N T E R N AT I O N A L J E T P O R T P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A I N E A Q UA C U LT U R E A S S O C I AT I O N Sebastian Belle, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Association, says a diverse mix of species, companies, sizes and production methods have provided slow-but-steady growth in the industry. The relationship between any project and the community is really important. Projects that do their homework and listen to local communities about their concerns will do better than projects that don't. — Sebastian Belle Maine Aquaculture Association

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