Part 2 of 2
Linda Smith began her role as Brunswick’s economic development director in 2014. In heading that department, she promotes the town as a place to live, visit and to do business. Her department facilitates capital investment, job creation, business activity and the property tax base. Smith also serves as a liaison between the town and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, the agency charged with overseeing the conversion of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station to civilian use.
The Times Record: How are things going on the east side of town, especially in relation to Merrymeeting Plaza and the Cook’s Corner Shopping Mall?
Linda Smith: DDR, the owners before Summit Realty and Katz came in, had put on their website that Cook’s Corner mall was one of the malls that they didn’t want in their portfolio, and that was nearly two years before they sold. Their interest in working with us, I think, was mitigated by knowing they were going to have an exit strategy.
Since the Katz investment, they’ve been having conversations about the new connector road between Admiral Fitch and Gurnet, and they are talking pretty aggressively about what they want to bring in. They told us when they bought it, it might take them a year to two years to get a couple of the folks they want. Unlike Topsham Fair Mall, they want national profile companies to come in.
What I hear, informally, is they’re working aggressively to get those folks in. They believe with the growth at Brunswick Landing they have a good position to make a case. They feel pretty upbeat.
Merrymeeting Plaza, I think, is also seeing incremental activity. They’ve been inching their way up to around 65 percent (occupancy). They’re more interested and willing to negotiate with some of our local folks. I’m hoping we’ll see some announcement by the end of this year.
Back in 2014, everyone was holding their breath, seeing things sliding down. People now are feeling more confident that they can attract and retain businesses there. But it’s slow getting businesses in.
TR: Recently, Kestrel left Brunswick Landing. We’ve also seen Owens Corning leave the industrial park. What are some of the challenges in attracting manufacturing to Brunswick and how does it overcome those challenges?
LS: Manufacturing is in the narrow-band for the industrial cluster at this point. It’s not about Brunswick or Brunswick Landing. We just don’t see as much industrial activity or light manufacturing.
What we do see are similar jobs in terms of wages and benefits. The same week you’re reporting that Owens Corning is leaving, you’re also reporting SaviLinx’s growth. We know Wayfair is meeting its targets and is targeted to go from 150 to 500 jobs, and those are good wage jobs with benefits.
It’s not so much about manufacturing as it is the quality jobs. The concern is we have a workforce to keep people coming here. My sense is that even though our unemployment rate is low, we still have folks who are underemployed, or who are looking at shifting to something they might have more affinity with. Our employers aren’t at the stage where they are panicked. It’s about needing to be competitive in terms of wages.
In talking to some of our smaller businesses, their entry-level, part-time people are now going to some of these higher-wage full-time jobs. Backfilling those entrylevel positions is harder for them.
Overall, we’ve got Brunswick Landing aggressively marketing itself. People are checking out the downtown — it’s a vibrant downtown that makes people want to come here, like CEI.
TR: There’s been a lot of changes in the downtown. You had CEI relocating its headquarters here and building new, where the rec center and town offices were. You’ve got new apartments across from Brunswick Station. How will the downtown look in 10 years?
LS: When you look at Brunswick and compare it to the geography of Gardiner or Topsham or Bath, it’s a flatter community. For folks looking to age in place it’s really attractive.
Keeping the grocery store (the downtown Hannaford) is a big draw. I would hope we would keep a mix of businesses so that it’s not just food — we’ve got nice boutique shops. I like that we have a place like Bamforth Marine (on Maine Street) — it might be tough to keep them in the downtown, but what I’m looking for is something a little different than any other community.
We’re lucky to be anchored by the (Fort Andross) mill and by Bowdoin College.
Brunswick Landing has over 100 businesses. But Cabot Mill has over 80. It’s this compressed space but there’s this incredible mix. I would hope that if some of those businesses grow out of the mill that they grow to the downtown. If they grow out of the downtown they go to east Brunswick and to Brunswick Landing so that we keep this eclectic mix. I think it attracts people, and you’re not keeping all your eggs in one basket, and you’re not just identified with one business.
You know how dominated Bath is by Bath Irons Works — and it’s a wonderful problem to have. But I’m glad in Brunswick, we’re looking at a mix of businesses. If we can stay like that, and make sure people have adequate housing and good schools, we’re good to go. We’ll be strong for more than the next 10 years.
jswinconeck@timesrecord.com
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