Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 J U LY 1 1 , 2 0 2 2 F O C U S A U G U S TA / WAT E R V I L L E / C E N T R A L M A I N E Dennison Lubricants, Central Maine Meats, Oak Hill Crematorium and Crafts Transport. Interest from potential buyers in recent years stems in part from Portland's tight industrial inventory, says Wheelock. Sanitation franchise Last year, the park signed on a sanita- tion franchise in Weymouth, Mass. Rich and Jim Nissi are father-and- son partners who have a franchise with ChemStation, a Dayton, Ohio, company that provides customers with custom-formulated, environmentally friendly industrial cleaning prod- ucts delivered to refillable containers directly to customer facilities. e plan is to open their first Maine location to serve a growing clientele. Rich Nissi says he opened the Weymouth franchise in 2004 and entered the Maine market in 2008. Today, he has 50 to 100 clients in Maine and is adding an average of one per month. Clients include wild blueberry and seafood processors, bakeries and breweries throughout Maine. e goal is to break ground in 2023. Nissi discovered the park through Common Wealth Poultry, a customer of ChemStation's that has its facility at the park. "We looked around the park and said, 'Yes, this might be the right place,'" he recalls. Advantages of the location, he says, include the people of Gardiner. "We like the townspeople," he says. "It's evident that they're encour- aging businesses in any way they can. A lot of times towns take the oppo- site approach." Plus, he continues, "Gardiner is smack dab in the middle of the state for us." Another lot, says Wheelock, has com- pleted construction for the Hauppauge, N.Y., owner of a franchise for PODS, a moving and storage portable container service headquartered in Clearwater, Fla. Other companies arriving in recent years include Auburn Asphalt, which is part of Sunderland, Mass.-based All States Materials Group. Posillico Real Estate and Construction of Hampton Bays, N.Y., bought two lots with the idea of building a business incubator. Tool manufacturer More recently, James Graham, owner and president of Core Cutter in Farmingdale, worked to finalize a deal for a lot that will accommodate his company's expansion. e company, founded in 2017, manufactures high performance carbide cutting tools. Today, it has 10 employees and has grown from three to seven CNC machines. For now, Core Cutter occupies 5,550 square feet at 362 Maine Ave. in Farmingdale, which is just north of Gardiner. "We're out of room," says Graham. "e only way we'll be able to hire and buy more machines is to have bigger spot." Initially, Graham was thinking that he would be able to find a relatively local warehouse at an affordable pur- chase price. He looked for over a year and found that wasn't the case. "ere was nothing on the market that fit our need," he says. "ere was space available for lease. But the problem is, with my type of business, we'd dump so much money into the building, it didn't make sense to lease. So we defi- nitely wanted to buy something." Born and raised in central Maine, he remembered when the park was established. "I've known about the park for a long time," he says. "Recently, there's been a lot of compa- nies moving in there." e infrastructure was a big draw. "We rely on solid three-phase power for all our equipment," he says. e plan is to build a steel manufac- turing building of at least 10,000 square feet, which will have room for 16 CNC machines and support equipment and will accommodate future expansion. e goal is to break ground next spring and be operational by winter 2023. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Hardworking YOUR TEAM IS HARDWORKING, YOU NEED OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES THAT WORK JUST AS HARD. Seven clinic locations in Maine and a range of customizable services provide individual attention and team success. workhealthllc.org 1.844.WRKHLTH(1.844.975.4584) Presque Isle | Bangor | Ellsworth | Pittsfield | Waterville | Portland NonprofitMaine.org/PowertheCommonGood #NonprofitsWorkForME 1 IN 6 In Central Maine 11,000 11,000 That's over people! workers is employed by a nonprofit We looked around the park and said, 'Yes, this might be the right place. — Rich Nissi ChemStation

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