Mainebiz

V I E W P O I N T S W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 3 M AY 4 , 2 0 2 6 We're attorneys. But we're people first. Meet Helen. She guides start-ups throughout their business life-cycle: from assisting founders with company formation and navigating rounds of financing to negotiating exits, and everything in between. bernsteinshur.com Helen Coburn Shareholder From the Editor L etting go of a company you founded or ran for years can be difficult. We only need to look at the striking number of top execs who have "retired" only to reemerge after a short break. Reduced roles at a company often lead to confusion and hard feelings. As one of our "How To" columns points out, "Without a new role, it is too easy to slip back into doing the work you are try- ing to retire from, which can prevent your successors from fully moving into their new roles, and send mixed signals to the organi- zation about who is in charge." For our cover story, Laurie Schreiber, a senior writer at Mainebiz, talked to farmers about the transition. Websites like Maine FarmLink and New England Farm Finder connect farmland owners with prospective buyers. e idea is to sell, lease or work out other arrangements. As Laurie reports, deals do fall through. Arrangements don't go the way they were planned. In one transaction, the bounty was a share in the farm's CSA. "Clear com- munication, clarity of vision, open mindsets and transparency with the business finances are all key elements to a successful farm transfer," says the head of a nonprofit that negotiates land trusts. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Featured @ Mainebiz.biz For a daily digest of Maine's top business news, sign up for the Mainebiz Daily Report at mainebiz.biz/enews Mainebiz offers the latest business news in the Daily Report and the Real Estate Insider newsletters. Here is the top content from April 1–27. 1. Prospective Bangor Mall buyer wants to develop condos and marketplace 2. Historic Sagamore Village housing community in Portland gets full makeover 3. Freeport's movie theater — vacant since 2020 — to reopen this spring 4. Regulatory snafu stalls Maine's modular industry 5. MaineHealth to relocate HQ from downtown Portland to Westbrook 6. Friday Food Insider: Falmouth's Old Smith Farm will reopen under new ownership 7. Proposal at Rock Row calls for 250 housing units, 120-room hotel 8. Portland invites community input on future of Midtown properties 9. A roundup of Maine commercial real estate leases for April 2026 10. Long-time chef plans 'small plates' restaurant in downtown Portland R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y B A N G O R M A R K E T P L A C E A N D R E S I D E N C E S L L C 1 CORRECTION: In the March 23 print edition of Mainebiz, the Noteworthy section incorrectly identified three nonprofit sites as being run by Penquis. Only Theresa's Place is run by Penquis. For some business owners, parting is such sweet sorrow Reduced roles at a company often lead to confusion and hard feelings

• Cover