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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 J U N E 1 5 , 2 0 1 5 For a daily digest of Maine's top busi- ness news, sign up for the Mainebiz Daily Report at mainebiz.biz/enews Get Maine's business news daily at mainebiz.biz and on Twitter (@Mainebiz). Below is some of the best from our online-only offerings: Featured @ Mainebiz.biz From the Editor I got a call this week from Mike Hurley, former mayor of Belfast and the owner of several businesses there. Hurley, a pioneer in Belfast's resurgence when he opened the Belfast Café in 1979, is turning 65 and plan- ning to sell one of his businesses. Hurley announced June 8 that the Colonial eatre — the downtown movie theater that dates to 1912 and was refurbished by Hurley in 1995 — is on the market for $2.75 million. It's a fi xture downtown. One summer, my wife and teenage girls dragged me to see "Eat Pray Love" in that theater — and I loved it, I might add. Hurley expects a buyer would want to keep the business going as a movie theater, saying it's been "refurbished A-to-Z," and the projection equipment is now digital. "We've gotten some calls," Hurley tells me by phone, adding: "People ask if I'm leaving town. No." Hurley's journey mirrors that of Belfast, whose downtown and waterfront resurgence has been a model of economic development in Maine. When he arrived in the late '70s, the chicken-processing plants spewed raw waste into the harbor. He opened the Belfast Café reasoning that back-to-landers would stop in after visiting the surging Belfast Co-op, which opened its fi rst store-front location in 1976. (Hurley eventu- ally got out of the restaurant business, and the former café is now the site of the Parent Gallery, at 92 Main St.) "Within four or fi ve months of us opening, the fi rst chicken plant closed," he recalls. "At the time, there were 30 vacancies in the downtown. If you saw three cars, you'd wonder what was going on. e unemployment rate in Waldo County was 19%. ere was an incentive to be on welfare or part of the underground economy." Hurley said he's never forgotten an economic devel- opment conference he attended in Portland in the late '70s. One speaker argued that downtrodden towns should focus on building the creative economy. " e point was, 'Where the artists go, Realtors will follow,'" Hurley says. He'll be the fi rst to say that Belfast's resurgence was greatly aided by investment from MBNA. Even as MBNA (and eventually Bank of America) scaled down the presence in Belfast, the weaning was gradual enough that Belfast adjusted. Belfast's downtown has benefi tted from the addition of bookstores, restaurants and a revitalized waterfront, which has been enhanced not just by walking paths but also by a working boat- yard, Front Street Shipyard. Amanda Rector, Maine's state economist, was asked earlier this year, "Where in Maine are they getting it right?" In Belfast, she replied. Hurley's own path didn't necessarily follow the "where the artists go" plan. Despite owning a restaurant and movie theater, he's broadly diversifi ed across industries. Coastal Distribution Inc., which is based at 93 Main St., has manufactured more than 30 million of the Mini Scraper, a household device that comes in handy in scraping your old dump sticker off the windshield. Bay City Cargo sells old theater marquee letters and commercial signage. Another business produces oversized fi berglass objects: a 1,500-pound Wally mascot-bobblehead for Fenway Park, a life-sized Tommy Lasorda bobblehead for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the world's largest longhorn steer for the University of Texas. I had a chance to meet Hurley at a Mainebiz "On the Road" event in Belfast a year ago. I was struck by his energy and outlook. He's jumped at opportunities, both on land and on the water. He's started and sold a variety of businesses (including a window-washing fi rm). He imported jewelry from Morocco. He served as mayor for eight years and council for seven years. He's sailed across the Atlantic, twice, in a 40-foot boat. "I count that among the best experiences of my life," he says. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz 'Where the artists go, Realtors will follow' and other ideas for economic development Wireless Internet provider launches Redzone Wireless LLC, a Camden- based wireless Internet service provid- er, has activated its network in its first three coverage areas: Portland, Waterville and Great Diamond Island. The company plans to expand network coverage to 15 total areas. Find out more details at mainebiz.biz/Redzone A kinder, gentler 'Shark Tank' Maine entrepre- neurs can vie for a chance to become one of 26 companies participating in a weekly TV show called "Greenlight Maine." The show, which will air on WCSH6 and WLBZ2, is giving away a minimum prize of $100,000 to one winner. Find out more details at mainebiz.biz/GreenlightMaine hammondlumber.com An inside look Get a digest of the state's largest commercial real estate transactions, industry movers and more in our weekly Real Estate Insider newsletter. Sign up at mainebiz.biz/enews

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