Mainebiz

V O L . X X X I N O. V I M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 5 6 TD Bank, one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S. and the bank with the largest market share in Maine, plans to close four Maine branches in early June. They are located at 95 Main St. in Gorham, 112 Main St. in Fairfield, 62 W. Main St. in Fort Kent and 6 North St. in Houlton, the bank said. That will leave TD Bank with 31 locations in Maine. Hannaford Supermarkets in Scarborough announced a $200,000 donation to both Full Plates Full Potential and Let's Go! to support efforts to ensure all children are con- nected to fresh, quality foods and nu- trition education to live heathier lives. MaineHealth Innovation in Portland said it is investing $100,000 from its Bonfire Funding Program in Cryptomedix Inc. to help patients overcome cancer. The company was co-founded by Peter Brooks, a MaineHealth Institute for Research faculty scientist. Tecta America, a national commer- cial roofing company with an office in Portland, is celebrating its 25th anni- versary in 2025. MaineHealth in Portland announced that it will be part of new clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to investigate potential treat- ments for long-term symptoms after COVID-19 infection, including exercise intolerance and the worsening of symp- toms following physical or mental exer- tion known as post-exertional malaise. Northern Light Health said March 13 it will close Northern Light Inland Hospital and its associated services and clinics in Waterville, citing op- erating losses of $1 million to $1.5 million per month, unsustainably low reimbursement rates and a tight labor market. The decision to close was made after lengthy consideration of B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state A Skowhegan shop fires up wood-fired pizza ovens B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n W ood-fired pizza has an almost cult-like following. But this isn't a food review; it's a story about the maker of wood-burning pizza ovens. Pizza ovens of this kind produced at Maine Wood Heat in Skowhegan are a fixture at Maine Beer Co. in Freeport, Flight Decking Brewing and Nomad Pizza in Brunswick, OTTO Pizza and other venues around Maine. At the Maine Wood Heat factory in the Skowhegan Industrial Park, commercial ovens are the big-ticket items, selling for as much as $65,000. But owner Scott Barden and his team of four workers (and one administrator, his mom, Cheryl Kemper), also produce pizza ovens for home use. They're pricey, as much as $13,000, but they've been sold to consumers as far afield as Connecticut, Ohio and Hawaii. The day Mainebiz visited, workers were polishing the copper dome of a pizza oven destined for a museum in Arizona. The ovens are built from scratch. Many of the components are built or fabricated in-house, with a couple exceptions: the bottom of the oven, the bricks that retain and radi- ate heat, are imported from France. Copper sheathing that covers the dome part of the oven comes from a factory in Massachusetts and then is fabricated into the dome shape. Steel framework components are produced in-house, as are the tin stove pipes. If the oven needs to be mobile, its trailer is produced in-house. The stoves are assembled by Barden and the small team. Barden has the workshop outfitted for metal working, woodworking and fabrication, and the team is adept in differ- ent fields. The workshop is outfitted with old-school and new- school features: There's a salvaged "acorn table" workbench that's made from cast iron and looks like it could endure any amount of heat from a welding torch or pounding from a ball-pein hammer. There's a large CNC machine acquired used from a factory in Illinois. There's a heavy-duty miter saw for cutting steel. Nearly every tool is a much studier version of what you might see in a home workshop. Shift in strategy The pandemic created a rush on home pizza ovens — both from Maine Wood Heat and also from cheaper competitors — but that business trailed off last year, as people returned to workplaces, Barden says. "There was saturation in the market. A lot of people spent a lot of money in lockdown, in that stay-at-home period," he says. Barden is refocusing some of the business on the Maine Metalcraft division, which offers custom fences, signs, fix- tures, truck bodies, manufacturing support and even intri- cate metal sculptures. New products are being developed. He's working with a branding firm on a rebrand to Maine Oven Craft. The retooled name would denote a higher-end product and clarify what the company does. "The idea is to boost visibility," Barden says. "The [Maine Wood Heat] name is confusing." SP ONSORED BY Scott Barden, co-owner of Maine Wood Heat, next to a Bigelow 120 oven at the Skowhegan facility Garrett Veinotte welds on a ventilation pipe for a pizza oven. Jason Farris welds a storage box door for a trailer. N O T E W O R T H Y C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N C E N T R A L & W E S T E R N N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N S O U T H E R N N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E S T A T E W I D E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY

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