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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 M AY 2 9 , 2 0 1 7 F O C U S L E W I S T O N / A U B U R N southern Maine and the Greater Portland market," says Fletcher. " at's something Lewiston/Auburn has been poised for in the last several years — to take advantage of the tightness of the market down south." L/A's advantages, Fletcher says, include available land for construc- tion and the two cities' streamlined permitting processes. In addition, L/A is handy to the Maine Turnpike and has the Auburn Lewiston Airport; and Auburn is home to Maine's largest intermodal cargo terminal, a hub for the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad that runs through Auburn between Portland and Canada. L/A is also cen- tral to Portland, Augusta and Bangor. Fletcher is handling the marketing for one of L/A's newest industrial parks, the Auburn Enterprise Center. Owned by the Auburn Business Development Corp. and developed in partnership with the city of Auburn, it comprises eight build-ready sites and comes with incentives like reductions to interna- tional trade tariff s and state taxes. "I've already got two or three developers eyeballing building on spec there," he says. " e developers are from Lewiston/Auburn, seeing the same opportunity I do. I think you'll see ground-up speculation in Lewiston/Auburn — and I think the market is ready to demand it." Location key for transportation, logistics fi rms Lewiston/Auburn's geographic advantages have made it a hub for transportation and logistics companies, which has spurred the development of industrial parks in both cities to accom- modate, among other uses, numerous companies investing in warehousing and distribution facilities. In 2005, Wal-Mart built an 850,000- square-foot food distribution center on 117 acres at 31 Alfred A. Plourde Parkway, just down the road from where Gendron had completed Phase 1 of a new business park a year earlier. Lincoln Jeff ers, director of the Lewiston Economic and Community Development Department, cred- its Wal-Mart's arrival with spurring interest from other companies interested in setting up warehouse- distribution centers in L/A. at resulted in Gendron Business Park fi lling up within two years. Now Phase 2 is starting on the park's remain- ing 150 acres, which can accommodate 1 million square feet of development, if a tenant wanted it. 207.989.4824 When the bases are loaded and you need a home run… Our team of professionals delivers. Sensible Solu ons. S P O N S O R E D B Y Don't miss the 2017 Executive Insights Forum! To register or for more details visit mainebiz.biz/EIF Workforce development How private business is working with workforce development resources to find the workforce they need to succeed. F O R U M T O P I C FOLLOW US @MBEVENTS #MBEIF17 Thursday, June 15 7:30–10:30am | Thorne Hall, Bowdoin College Tickets are $30 and include breakfast M O D E R AT O R A N N O U N C I N G PA N E L I S T S Robert Sansome Chief Human Resources Officer, Tyler Technologies Carolyn Brodsky President, Sterling Rope Patricia Weigel CEO, Norway Savings Bank Ed Cervone Ed Cervone Executive Director, Executive Director, Educate Maine Educate Maine C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E »

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