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V O L . X X I I N O. X I I I J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 30 S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S Corson picks out a live specimen from a saltwater tank and hands it to her father, Hank Tibbetts, who's watch- ing over several large pots of steam- ing water on the back deck. Corson's husband and the shack's co-owner, Phil Corson, is checking in to see how busi- ness is going before heading back to his fi shing boat. Earlier in the day, he'd been hauling the lobsters that now sit in the tank, ready for customers. "Some of the things I've heard from customers, as they pass, is they enjoy getting away to a more quiet, laid-back eatery with minimal crowds," Kelly Corson says. "We like this spot because there's not a whole lot here." With the peak of the tourist season still to come, she is already seeing plenty of activity. "People are coming by and saying, 'You're doing a great job,'" Kelly says. "Town Hill has really got some great off erings now." Route 102 is the main drag leading through Town Hill to what's known as the quiet side of Mount Desert Island. MDI's east side comprises much of Acadia National Park, as well as Bar Harbor — packed with lodgings, eateries and other tourist ventures. e quieter western side has less-visited por- tions of Acadia, the towns of Southwest Harbor and Tremont and several vil- lages, including Town Hill. Primarily low-density residential or undeveloped, Town Hill's portion of Route 102 off ers a strip of small service, commercial and retail businesses that include Town Hill Market, Atlantic Brewery, a sandwich shop and catering company called Mother's Kitchen and EBS Hardware. Other businesses established in recent years include the Bar Harbor Jam Co. and Bar Harbor Bait. Corson of e Travelin' Lobster says the businesses look out for one another. She sells baked goods from the nearby Mount Dessert Bakery, operated by Robyn Clark. It was important to the Corsons to get their fi nancing from the Camden National Bank branch that's in Town Hill. "We want to build local relation- ships," she says. "And they were fan- tastic to work with." A different demographic Frost Farms, which opened in April, sells garden supplies on a site carved out of a wooded area. Owner Melissa "Frosty" Frost is a Maine Maritime Academy graduate who worked for a decade for a landscaper around Southwest Harbor. Frost always aimed to own a small business, liked landscap- ing, bought an acre last September, cleared out a raggedy woods, land- scaped, renovated the existing barn, put up two greenhouses, grew half her stock from a feeder greenhouse she rented and located suppliers in Maine and New England for the rest. Frost says she's seeing somewhat of a diff erent demographic here, com- pared with Southwest Harbor, where the landscaping business she worked for is a destination in an out-of-the- way area. In Town Hill, Route 102 is a well-traffi cked road. "Because of the diff erent locale and the main drag, we have a lot of traffi c here," Frost says. " is is more of a drive-by location and a lot of people are stopping in." Town Hill is proving attractive for small business largely because of prop- erty that's available, less expensive and not as storefront-oriented as commercial property in Bar Harbor, says Martha Searchfi eld, executive director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. " ere's not a lot of available, open spaces left in Bar Harbor," Searchfi eld says. "And a lot of it has to do with the type of businesses the area is attracting. Town Hill has a lot of room to grow businesses, along with fostering new and unique businesses. If a business owner is not looking to have a storefront, but more looking to have a space that is eas- ily accessible, like having picnic tables and having space for people to be able to come and go — Town Hill is the perfect spot to lay roots and grow a business." A perfect example, she says, is Town Hill Takeaway, a dumpling and ramen take-out restaurant that is better suited to the Town Hill than downtown Bar Harbor, which "may not lend itself for easy in-and-out visits." Searchfi eld says she thinks at least some of area's activity has been spurred by social media. "Business models have changed as the digital landscape has changed," Searchfi eld says. "I don't think people are thinking, 'I'm going to open a storefront.' I think start-up businesses are thinking more along the lines of, Fringe no more Not far from Bar Harbor, Town Hill is attracting small businesses B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r P H O T O / L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R THERE IS A DIFFERENCE THERE IS Because Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Sheridan Construction www.sheridancorp.com Fairfield Portland 207-453-9311 207-774-6138 Kelly Corson prepares a lobster roll at The Travelin' Lobster in Town Hill. Her husband and co-owner, Phil Corson, looks on. » C O N T I N U E D F R O M C O V E R

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