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w w w. m a i n e b i z . b i z 17 F e b r ua r y 9 , 2 0 1 5 team aggressively went after national accounts and made a point of acting quickly on employees' sug- gested improvements for the Mars Hill plant. e company posted a 15% increase in sales in the first full year after the return to ownership by Pineland Farms. Last year's sales of $35 million were more than double the $17 million posted in 2010. "Haley does probably 65% of those sales," McCrum says of his daughter, Haley McCrum Kelley, a Husson University graduate who is the company's vice president of marketing and sales. A competitive figure skater when she was grow- ing up, Kelley worked for Basic American Foods during its ownership of Naturally Potatoes. She shares her father's vision for spurring a renaissance of Aroostook County's farming economy. "I'm happy I have a job here, doing something I'm knowledgeable about," she says. "I worked on our family farm. Now I'm in a role where I can help the farmers and other industries in Aroostook County." Kelley says her current focus is on marketing the company's recent name change from "Naturally Potatoes" to "Pineland Farms Naturally Potatoes" on its packaging, logo and other marketing materi- als. e change, she says, reflects parent company Pineland Farms Inc.'s interest in making "Pineland Farms" a national brand and makes it easier to cross-sell the New Gloucester-based company's different food products — potatoes, beef and cheese — under a single brand name. "We have three great companies, let's put them under one umbrella," she says. "We're using all avenues we have to make that brand recognizable across the board for the three food companies." As she travels around the country, Kelley says she finds that although Maine is well known for its lobster, blueberries, lighthouses and L.L.Bean, it's not as well-known for potatoes. Idaho's decades- long marketing campaign has effectively made "Idaho" synonymous with "potato" for many con- sumers, and put a dent in other states' sales. But Kelley says Pineland Farms Naturally Potatoes is emphasizing more its "family farm" and "local food" connections in the new packaging designs for its refrigerated potato products. "We're just scratching the surface," she says, not- ing that the plant in Mars Hill is far closer to East Coast markets (representing 80% of the population of Canada and 60% of the United States) than its West Coast competitors. "ere are definitely some untapped markets we can go out there and get." "We're always looking for new opportunities," her father agrees. "We're not resting on our successes and we're aware that new challenges will come up." He's not just talking potatoes, either. e com- pany's 2013 purchase of Pineland Farms Creamery business, McCrum says, offers a potential for creating cheese products that could be made in Mars Hill — refrigerated macaroni-and-cheese, for instance. With Aroostook County's potato acreage about 25% what it was at its peak in the early 1950s, McCrum says there is plenty of fertile land avail- able — not just for potatoes, but for other crops as well. He cites the success of Smith's Farm, the East Coast's leading broccoli producer, with a broc- coli processing and shipping plant in Presque Isle. Nearby, in Fort Fairfield, Pineland Farms has a cattle yard for its line of Pineland Farms Natural Meats. "Every dollar we create, it flips seven times before it leaves the state," McCrum says. "If we buy 50 million pounds of potatoes, then the potato farmers have to buy seed potatoes. ey have to buy fuel. ey have to buy fertilizer. ey might have to hire someone to work on their tractor. ere's a big ripple effect, and I think that's often under-rated." "Maine is the breadbasket of the East," he adds. "We just don't know it yet." 'A lighthouse leading the way' Donald Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board, is cautiously optimistic that Aroostook County's potato industry is on the verge of an upswing. "e industry is somewhat stable right now," he says. "What we've seen in the last five or six years is more people coming back to the farm. at's some- thing my generation didn't see … Naturally Potatoes has seen an opportunity in the refrigerated processed potato markets and has taken advantage of it." Dana Wright, executive director of the Presque Isle-based Agricultural Bargaining Council, agrees. His organization negotiates produce contracts with companies like Pineland Farms Naturally Potatoes and McCain Foods USA on behalf of 75 to 80 member farmers. "Naturally Potatoes is almost like a 'lighthouse' right now, showing the way," he says. "e farming commu- nity up here looks at the recent expansion and growth as a breath of fresh air. ey've got an excellent product and it's giving some stability to our potato growers." J a m e s M c C a r t h y , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t j m c c a r t h y @ m a i n e b i z . b i z Online banking with mobile check deposit Smart Business Checking Growing businesses need more than a checkbook and a smile. They need real. Real honesty, real products, and real people with smart ideas who are willing to get out from behind the desk and make things happen for you. At least that's what we think at Gorham Savings Bank. We call it a breath of fresh banking. Spend more time at your business than ours — genius. 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