Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X I X 4 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine Q UA L I T Y O F L I F E W hile the Fact Book is the annual publication that looks at aspects of doing business in Maine, the cover is often reserved for more artistic pursuits. is year, we asked longtime Mainebiz photogra- pher Tim Greenway for his input on the cover. As luck would have it, Tim was in the process of putting together a show that opened in early August in Portland, at Cove Street Arts. e cover includes several of the images included in Tim's "WaterWays" show, which he says "captures the peaceful yet powerful journey of water flowing from the untouched snowcaps of the White Mountains, swirling through rivers and cascading over water- falls in Maine and New Hampshire, and ultimately merging with the Maine coast. is continual flow symbolizes the passage of time and the interconnect- edness of nature and humanity." e photos grew out of his observations about daily life. "In our culture, which often moves at a frantic pace with constant digital noise, being present is a challenge," he writes in his artist's statement for the "WaterWays" show. "Over the past 14 months, as I created these photographs, I found myself immersed in the intricate details of the natural world, where time slows down and unexpected beauty unfolds before the lens." Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Fact Book cover inspired by mountains, rivers and the coast HOW MAINE STACKS UP AGAINST OTHER STATES IN SOME KEY AREAS PORTLAND BANGOR SOUTH PORTLAND When it comes to high-quality health care, Maine was ranked No. 9 by WalletHub, sandwiched between Vermont at No. 8 and Colorado at No. 10. WalletHub researchers looked at health care costs, access and outcomes, which were further broken down into 44 rel- evant metrics. Each state and D.C. was then assigned a weighted average across all metrics for an overall score and ranking. Minnesota ranked No. 1 overall, followed by Rhode Island at No. 2 and South Dakota at No. 3. Mississippi ranked lowest in the comparison, at No. 51. Two Maine counties rank in the top 10 on a list of destinations with the biggest increase in the cost of second homes. York County ranked No. 3 on the web- site Pacaso's list, with a 16% increase, year over year, in transactions of second homes. The average sale price was $2.075 million. Cumberland County, where Portland is located, ranked No. 5 on the list, with a 14% increase and an average price of $1.7 million. The list was topped by Rhode Island's Newport County, whose transaction volume rose by 64%. Florida's Volusia County, whose largest city is Daytona Beach, rose by 19% but also laid claim to the highest average price, at $4 million. Among the country's summer road trip destinations, Maine (also known as Vacationland) ranks No. 9, according to WalletHub. That puts the state between Wyoming (No. 8) and Pennsylvania (No. 10). Maine places far above its New England peers: New Hampshire is No. 35, Massachusetts No. 37, Vermont No. 46, Connecticut No. 48 and Rhode Island No. 49. OpenTable's "Top 100 Restaurants in America List" for 2023 featured three eateries in Maine, including a Portland mainstay that's been around since 1996. Using an updated methodology using diner reviews and new metrics, the list spotlights some of the most in-demand restaurants by the booking and review website this year.The restaurants were Fore Street in Portland, Earth at Hidden Pond in Kennebunkport and Franny's Bistro in Camden. In a comparison of the 1,334 small cities across the U.S. best-suited for starting a business, Portland ranks No. 189. Bangor is No. 314 and South Portland places at No. 421. While those numbers may not appear impressive, they put the Maine cities at the top of the heap among those in the nine Northeast states. In the regional comparison, Portland, Bangor and South Portland rank Nos. 1, 2 and 4, respectively. The national ranking, released by financial website WalletHub, compared cities with 25,000 to 100,000 residents according to 18 startup-friendly criteria. They included factors such as financing availability, startups per capita and labor costs, and WalletHub analysts compiled scores for each city in three categories: business environment, access to resources, and business costs. F I L E P H O T O S C R E E N S H O T / C O U R T E S Y, JA M E S B E A R D F O U N DAT I O N F I L E P H O T O S OGUNQUIT, YORK COUNTY In the 2024 James Beard Awards, two Portland baker- ies took the cake. Atsuko Fujimoto, of Norimoto Bakery, won the award for the country's "outstanding pastry chef or baker," while ZU Bakery, owned by Barak Olins, captured the national title of "outstanding bakery."

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