V O L . X X X N O. X I X
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Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine
B U S I N E S S R E S O U R C E S
S
ales have more than doubled
every year since Jamie Goddard
started his rope-splicing com-
pany, topping $1 million in 2023. Not too
shabby for a business he started in his
home garage with a ping-ping table for
a work bench.
e Rope Guru is no longer located
in Goddard's garage, and the ping-pong
table is long gone. Today, he and one
employee operate out of a two-bay indus-
trial garage with 18-foot ceilings and
plenty of room to work and store huge
spools of rope for their business.
Goddard and his work partner, Joe
Crowley, know rope inside and out.
Between them, they previously worked
at Yale Cordage in Saco for 35 years.
Now they take Yale Cordage rope of all
types and make custom rope products
of all sizes and shapes to meet the needs
of hundreds of customers in Maine and
across the country.
"It's a pretty niche market," Goddard
says. "We buy Yale Cordage's rope in
bulk and turn it into stuff. We make
rope tools out of rope. e uses are
unlimited."
A background in rope
Goddard worked at Yale Cordage, a
leading synthetic rope manufacturer,
for nearly 20 years. As vice president
of sales, he spent a lot of time on the
road across the country as well as
Europe, the United Kingdom, West
Africa and Singapore.
But looking for a change and
wanting to have more time to watch
his daughter's college field hockey
games, he left Yale Cordage in 2019
and explored new opportunities.
He didn't stray far from what he
knew — rope — deciding there was a
These
guys
know
rope
The Rope Guru
finds success in a
niche market
B y C l a r k e C a n f i e l d
P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY
Jamie Goddard, owner of the Rope Guru in
South Portland, counts among his customers
utilities, ship builders and arborists.
