Mainebiz

O N T H E R E C O R D V O L . X X I N O. X I J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 5 44 B Y J A M E S M C C A R T H Y T hey sell fresh, Maine-caught lob- sters by the pound, pallet or trailer load. eir customers run the gamut from food trucks, lobster shacks, catering services and big box stores to Asian buyers who've developed a taste for what McEwen and Highbarger unabashedly say is "the most succu- lent lobster in the world." ey also sell value-added products like lobster rolls, fresh-picked and cooked Maine lobster meat, clam chowder and lobster bisque and that classic Maine dessert, the Whoopie pie. By the end of the month, they'll be moving Sea Salt Lobster from the Saco Industrial Park into an 8,000-square-foot building under construction on Route 1 in Saco. e new facility, at 660 Main St., will have holding tanks in the rear of the build- ing capable of storing up to 60,000 pounds of live lobsters; several loading bays for shipping; and offi ces for the wholesale seafood operations. In the front, they'll have a 75-seat restaurant and retail fi sh market that will sell lobster, haddock, cod, swordfi sh, tuna, clams, mussels; beer, wine and other beverages; spices; and Maine-made products. Opening day for the res- taurant and fi sh market is tentatively scheduled for June 25, with the lobster pound opening about a month later. We met up with McEwen and Highbarger at their new location, with bulldozers and graders in high gear getting the parking area ready for paving. An edited transcript follows. Mainebiz: Why this location? Why Saco? Shawn McEwen: We really like Saco. We've been in Saco for six years. e business climate here is r eally positive. We like the idea that we're still close to the coast, and we're close to where we live, in Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. Morey Highbarger: We're right off the Maine Turnpike, which is helpful. SM: e transportation logistics are huge. And there's no denying that this is a tourist hub and we happen to be on Route 1, where there's approxi- mately 30,000 cars a day driving past our location. MB: You started your business in 2009. What was your vision at that time? MH: is type of business isn't one where you could walk up to the docks here in Maine and say, 'I'm starting a wholesale business' and expect that you'll be welcomed into it. My background prior to getting into this was a brief history working at a lobster-processing plant and through that I was able to make contacts with suppliers of live lobsters. e other piece was that when I was at that processing plant I noticed there were some new and unique pro- cessed products from Maine and there weren't a lot of outlets, or the marketing, to support selling those products. e two things we were thinking of: One, we'll market live lobsters. Two, we'll market Maine lobsters that have been processed as value-added products. MB: How many workers do you have now? SM: We have 18 to 20 people working currently at Sea Salt Lobster. We're looking to add another 15 to 20 people for the restaurant and then three to four more people for the fi sh market. MB: In your wholesale business are you mostly selling to the domestic market, or do you also sell internationally? SM: I would say we're probably 75% domestic at this point, 25% international. MB: From 2009 until now, your company has grown considerably. Where do you see Sea Salt Lobster heading in the next fi ve years? MH: Currently, we're at approxi- mately $20 million in annual sales. We've projected out fi ve years and our anticipation is that we will have doubled our gross revenue. e challenge being, in order to sell that much product, we have to have sig- nifi cant banking relationships that can support the receivables. In today's banking world, it's very diffi cult to get fi nancing for the volume of receivables that we need. P H O T O / JA M E S M C C A R T H Y Morey Highbarger and Shawn McEwen have built Saco-based Sea Salt Lobster into a $20 million seafood business in six years. Their new 8,000-square-foot facility, under construction at 660 Main St. in Saco, will feature a modern take on a Maine lobster shack restaurant and fi sh market, in addition to wholesale and retail lobster operations. In just six years, Shawn McEwen and Morey Highbarger have gone from a simple napkin sketch to being co-owners of a Saco-based wholesale and retail seafood company, Sea Salt Lobster, with $20 million in annual sales. There Is There Is a Difference a Difference There Is There Is Because Sheridan Construction www.sheridancorp.com Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Henry & Ellen Hinman Hall at Thomas College

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