Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 5 Creating a future In 2013 the value of clam landings in Washington County exceeded $4.1 million, according to the Washington County Council of Governments. e 2013 value of landings for the towns of Perry and Pembroke, suggesting the impact the Sheehans' business might already be having, was $482,631, up from $324,611 the previous year. Dianne Tilton, executive director of the Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research and Education and a former legislator who served on the Marine Resources Committee, credits the Sheehans with bringing innovation to a tradition- bound industry. "I think what they're doing is ingenious," she says, highlighting their use of social media as one example. She also gives them high marks for initiating with their regular clammers a "re-seeding" program in which the business puts $1 for every bushel of clams it buys into a fund for buying baby seed clams from the Downeast Institute. Each $1 buys 200 baby clams. To date, Gulf of Maine has made two $1,000 payments and plans to make another $1,000 payment soon, paying for 600,000 baby clams that will be seeded in northwestern Cobscook Bay's fl ats next spring. A 2004 Mainebiz Nexter who was honored for her earlier work as executive director of the Sunrise County Economic Council, a Machias-based eco- nomic development organization, Tilton says she learned from that experience that the best way to improve a local economy is to bring in money from outside its boundaries. "Anything we can sell outside the region, those are new dollars coming in that can be spent over and over again," she says of the clams the Sheehans sell to wholesalers supplying restaurants throughout New England. "It's fuel for our engine, so to speak." J MC, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at @ . and @ JM RUDMAN WINCHELL PROVIDES LEGAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE PEOPLE, BUSINESSES AND MUNICIPALITIES OF COASTAL MAINE. A true strategic partner for your business rudmanwinchell.com Bangor, Maine 207.947.4501 From Camden, to Castine to Calais, we work the coast of Maine. P H O T O / JA M E S M C C A R T H Y Clam hoes and rollers, made locally, are sold at cost at Gulf of Maine Inc. All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely All these issues are completely solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the solvable. No money for the license? Loan them the money to pay for it. No jobs for our kids? Get them a license and let them dig clams. No transportation? Use an old school bus to pick up the diggers. — Tim Sheehan Gulf of Maine Inc.

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