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 A P R I L 4 , 2 0 1 6 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 Zapoteca owners unveil ambitious culinary project Shannon and Tom Bard of the Portland Mexican eatery Zapoteca plan a multi-tiered project that will include a new Spanish restaurant named Toroso, a ground-floor venue called Salud Bistro, a cooking school, market and catering company. Hear about the Bard's "dream project" at mainebiz.biz/zapoteca Former Dakin Sporting Goods building converted to high-end apartments After two years and nearly $2 million in investment to Dakin building in downtown Bangor, developer Roy Hubbard unveiled his project during an open house. Find out why Hubbard chose Bangor for the location of the high-end apart- ments at mainebiz.biz/dakin Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development executive director resigns Don Gooding, who has been with MCED since 2010, announced his resignation in a letter to the board, effective June 17. Find out more about his surprise announce- ment at mainebiz.biz/gooding B ack when I was a mere vacationer in Maine, spend- ing a week or two at a time in Castine, my wife and I were always surprised to meet so many people who both lived in Maine and vacationed in Maine. It's a testament to a state that's geographically diverse and fi lled with attractions of all kinds, from craft breweries to arts-and- crafts workshops, beaches to mountains, snowmobiling to standup paddleboarding. As we present our hospitality focus, with stories about Acadia National Park and Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer's café at Sunday River Resort, it might also be useful to pull out some stats from the Maine Offi ce of Tourism's recent annual conference. ¡ Spending on tourism totaled $5.65 billion last year, a 3.2% gain from 2014. Of that, recreation spending saw the biggest jump from a year earlier, rising by 13%, to $505.7 million. ¡ Visits to Maine totaled 33.85 million, an increase of 2.9%, according to DPA Inc. ¡ Tourism supports 98,932 jobs, or about 15% of all jobs in Maine. We have all heard the knock on tourism jobs: ey're low paying, seasonal, subject to the whims of the economy and so on. e reality is the industry is growing. You never want to say we have unlimited resources, but tourism cer- tainly has room to grow in Maine. (For a contrast, check out Jim McCarthy's cover story about the logging indus- try and its decline of jobs.) It turns out the notion that people live and vacation in Maine is well founded. Another fi nding from the Maine Offi ce of Tourism's recent conference was that 95% of Maine residents have taken a vacation more than 50 miles away, in Maine. Some 71% of Mainers have taken a Maine vacation within the past year. And we all know this routine, well-practiced in August: 89% of Mainers have encouraged someone to visit Maine, hosted out-of-state visitors or rec- ommended a Maine vacation destination to others. Last in, rst out Boat building is one of fi rst sectors to get hurt by an economic downturn and is one of the last to recover. In recent months, readers of Mainebiz have seen some evi- dence that the sector is on the rebound. Lyman Morse of omaston bought the Wayfayer boat yard in Camden and is upgrading the site. Morris Yachts was sold to Hinckley Yachts. e Robinhood Marine Center in Georgetown was sold for $4 million to an investor group that includes Derecktor Shipyards, which has operations in New York and Florida and, for the 1987 America's Cup, produced the Dennis Connor-captained Stars & Stripes that won back the cup from the Aussies. e recent prosperity was in evidence at his year's Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland. ere seemed to be a bit more optimism in the air (if that's possible to measure). I was particularly struck by the display of Everglades luxury yachts. You're welcome to climb on board most of the yachts, with shoes off , but after coming off one yacht I felt maybe white gloves might have also been in order: it was listed at a "show special" of $689,000. Peter Van Allen pvanallen@mainebiz.biz Hospitality no small industry From the Editor bernsteinshur.com CELEBRATING 1OO YEARS Be selective. BE SHUR. When you need a partner who knows the law —and your industry. We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on We have all heard the knock on tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, tourism jobs: They're low paying, seasonal, subject to the whims of the economy and so on. The reality is the industry is growing.

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