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 N OV E M B E R 1 6 , 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 Gifford's doubles retail ice cream capacity Family-owned Gifford's Famous Ice Cream is preparing to expand its Skowhegan facility to make room for new equipment. Find out why the ice cream maker is expanding now at mainebiz.biz/Giffords. L.L. Bean names new president and CEO Stephen Smith, an executive with a Walmart- owned Chinese e-commerce business, will replace Chris McCormick after McCormick retires early next year. Learn more about Smith at mainebiz.biz/LLBean. From the Editor T his is our fi rst year with a new feature, "Fastest Growing Companies in Maine." ere are truly no runners up among this bunch. We off er nine companies that have had organic growth. We had a strong fi eld of nominations. Many of the names will be familiar to our readers. A few might be less known, for now. ree are in the pharmaceutical industry and two of those are in veterinary pharmaceuticals. e fastest growing of the companies in the three size categories — Apothecary by Design, in the large cate- gory; Landry/French Construction in the medium group; and Rising Tide Brewing in the small category — share a common trait. All three were founded when the economy was at a low point, between 2008 and 2010. What happens after a company is incorporated is where the fun starts. At Apothecary by Design, a com- pany that expects $165 million in sales this year, things were so tight the fi rst two years principals drew either a half-salary or no salary. Founders of Landry/French, whose signs are now on construction projects through- out Portland, considered no job too small. In the spirit of craft breweries everywhere, Rising Tide Brewing's startup costs were self-funded by the founders. I think you'll enjoy reading the stories and the compa- nies' own responses to how they grew. The law beat e focus in this issue is law. For starters, we have made some changes to the list of Maine's largest law fi rms. Driven by data collected by our new head researcher, Stephanie Meagher, the fi rms are now ranked by the number of lawyers in Maine. In past years, fi rms had been ranked by total attorneys. e result is a reshuffl ing at the top. Bernstein Shur jumps from No. 4 in last year's list to No. 1 this year. With 95 Maine attorneys, it holds the slimmest edge over Verrill Dana, which has 94. Also in the focus section, Senior Writer James McCarthy delves into a rapidly emerging fi eld: drone law. As these automated, camera-carrying aircraft become more common, selling on Amazon for $1,200 or so, the applications for busi- ness have been endless. Realtors use them for aerial photo- graphs of property. Police are using them to seek out illegal activity and monitor traffi c. But the drones are creating havoc with airports and interfering with commercial aircraft. Elsewhere in the section, cor- respondent Laurie Schreiber looks at Maine School of Law's class of 2014 to get a read on where they have ended up. More than a third are in private practice, but you might be surprised how many are working in business and industry. Looking ahead, Maine Law Dean Danielle Conway, who started July 1, says the school is making a concerted eff ort to attract a greater range of students, including foreign students. "As a newcomer to Maine myself, I noticed there are many other newcomers. is population will grow. Students from other countries can make our understand- ing of issues around immigration and economic develop- ment much more vibrant," she says. Well said. NEXT reception a reminder of what Maine is doing right Mainebiz honored the 10 businesspeople from its NEXT List at a reception on Nov. 5. I was struck by the sincerity of the honorees, including family and mentors in the celebration, but also by how they themselves connected. Aaron Anker, one of the owners of Grandy Oats, made the comment that, having met fellow honoree Derek Volk, a co-owner of Volk Packaging Corp., he thought to himself, "Well, we need boxes — why not get them from someone in Maine?" Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz 'Fastest Growing' companies have some common threads bernsteinshur.com CELEBRATING 1OO YEARS Be smart. BE SHUR. When you need a lawyer who thinks like an executive and speaks like a human. 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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