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V O L . X X X N O. X X I V O C T O B E R 2 1 , 2 0 2 4 16 M I D C O A S T / D OW N E A S T F O C U S e same goes for VarneyCNC, a composites manufacturer whose projects include building a polyurethane foam swim platform for a powerboat. "We're a good example of how much stuff you can pack into 3,000 square feet," says Nathan Varney, the company's president. At TechPlace, "we all speak the same language." An incubator is born e idea behind TechPlace was part of the original redevelopment plan for Brunswick Landing, accord- ing to Steve Levesque, the first executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority until his retirement in late 2021. "We had a lot of very big buildings on the campus, but we didn't have anything that could accommo- date a small business," he recalls. Upon seeing the former aircraft maintenance building at 74 Orion St., "I said, 'is would be a great small business incubator,' because it's already broken up into a lot of small spaces and small shops." With funding from a combination of sources, TechPlace opened in 2015. It's owned and operated by the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which also owns and operates the public portions of the adjacent Brunswick Landing. As Brunswick Executive Airport deals with the aftermath of August's accidental spill of toxic firefighting foam, and the MRRA seeks a successor to Kristine Logan who recently resigned as execu- tive director, it's business as usual for TechPlace's 38 members. Together they employ 111 people. Bubbling bioreactors Inside the PhytoSmart lab, the sound of liquid bubbling inside sterile bioreactors behind a pro- tective tent evokes a micro-brewery, minus the hoppy aroma. But this isn't beer being brewed, it's micro- algae being processed into phytonutrients by operations director Patrick Cregten for use in superfoods for dogs and cats. "We can find it [micro-algae] in any ocean in the world that I keep alive in the lab," says Cregten, a marine biologist and aquaculturist from New Zealand. Under a patented process, Cregten uses the biore- actors to spin the water out of the algae to turn it into powder. e powder is then dried to create Omega-3 essential fatty acids to keep pets healthy. "ere's no other source I know of Omega-3 that is not either fish or ultra-processed," explains Cregten, happy for some visitors on a day he's working on his own. "I don't think we'd be able to exist anywhere else," he says. "e capital costs in doing what we're doing are outrageous, so to have a place that has almost all of what you need is fantastic." His take on TechPlace after working there for five years: "is is a wild mix of production and laboratory spaces that I don't think you'd find in many places." Equally keen on the co-working setup, Cregten says, "It's a community for sure — we all gossip around the water cooler." Biomedical innovator Salmonics LLC is another life sciences startup with roots in TechPlace. e company, founded in 2020, turns fish-derived plasma proteins that would other- wise be discarded as waste into biomedical products for research and diagnostic purposes. e company, whose investors include Norway's Lerøy Seafood Group, is currently marketing seven products with another in development and working on a product for veterinary surgical use, to stop bleeding, reduce inflammation and provide pain relief. In the early days of the pandemic, Cem Giray launched Salmonics in a space previously used by the Navy to paint finished airplane parts. Despite investing heavily to adapt the space, Giray says the reasonable rent was a big plus for a new business with limited financial resources. "It was the perfect setup in terms of support, infrastructure and networking and other support," he says. "It works really well for a startup." Today with a team of six employees and eight contractors, Salmonics rents around 2,400 square feet of laboratory, manufacturing and storage space at TechPlace, frequently collaborating with other members. Harbor Digital, for example, supplies Salmonics' information technology system, while » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E This is a wild mix of production and laboratory spaces that I don't think you'd find in many places. — Patrick Cregten PhytoSmart P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Patrick Cregten, operations director of PhytoSmart, in the company's production facility in TechPlace in Brunswick.

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