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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 J U N E 2 7 , 2 0 2 2 F O C U S styrofoam packaging. Her company, Tanbark Molded Fiber Products, uses TechPlace for storage, with produc- tion being tackled in Saco. Running Tide, which is based in Portland and is oyster farming and kelp-raising operations. On a recent day at TechPlace, Josh Hardy of Running Tide was outfitting a shipping container for kelp process- ing; the container was being readied to go to Iceland. Separately, the team was building a large galvanized steel system for oyster-farming. Jack Quinn, who retired from IDEXX Laboratories and now leads Hound Bio, is doing research related to pet medicines. Clamar Floats produces the pon- toons used on float planes. e process looks much like boatbuilding, with large-scale molds and a lot of fiber- glass. e floats are shipped all over the world, but many go to Alaska. Unlike some of the more indus- trial parts of TechPlace, Cassandra O'Brien and Megan Hall work in a clean lab. ey work for Loam Bio, which creates products that remove CO2, allowing agricultural uses to have less of an environmental impact. Loam Bio is an Australian company whose U.S. headquarters is in Minneapolis. Ocean Renewable Power Co. produces equipment to harness tidal currents. e firm has a statewide presence. It is headquartered in Portland. It does energy testing in Eastport. It teamed up with Millinocket Fabrication & Machine to manufacture the turbine shafts for its portfolio of products. And its electronics and engineering lab is at TechPlace. A rocket builder's start BluShift Aerospace's first dedicated space was a former Navy garage on Brunswick Landing. It was cramped, poorly lit and drafty. "At the time we didn't need much more than a garage. But it was rudimentary. ere was no insulation. We were bundled up. You had to take your gloves off to get anything done," says Sascha Deri, bluShift's founder and CEO. At the time, many of the tools the company needed were basic — "95% of them you'd have in the garage at home." It was hard to beat the rent, which was $300 a month. For larger needs, such as a CNC machine or an industrial- sized lathe, bluShift paid for time at nearby TechPlace, also on Brunswick Landing. For certain projects, bluShift was even able to hire out welders, who were moon- lighting from another company. As the startup grew, it needed larger dedicated space, which led it to its current site, at 2 Pegasus St. at Brunswick Landing, an aircraft han- gar with a large, heated workshop and office space. "As we've grown our engines have grown," Deri says. S TA R T U P S — P H Y S I C A L R E S O U R C E S C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » P H O T O S / F R E D F I E L D Kristine Logan, who heads up Brunswick Landing, and Jaimie Logan, director of TechPlace, at TechPlace, which has 38 members creating a range of products Salmonics CEO Dr. Cem Giray in the Salmonics lab at TechPlace. Josh Hardy, fabrication lead at Running Tide Technologies, uses the space at TechPlace to create systems for kelp production and oyster growing. At the time we didn't need much more than a garage. … There was no insulation. … You had to take your gloves off to get anything done. — Sascha Deri BluShift Aerospace

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