Two tenants at new Bangor Kris-Way facility achieve a good mix

Who said you can’t choose your neighbors? While many property owners would like that option before they move to a new location, that’s exactly what Kris-Way did before it moved to its new Bangor facility.

News travels fast in the truck-leasing business, so it’s no surprise that both of Kris-Way’s Perry Road tenants heard rumblings of an impending move that they wanted to be part of.

While both Portland Air Freight and Oakhurst Dairy already maintained a Bangor presence, they couldn’t resist the opportunity to align themselves with Kris-Way. The mutually-beneficial arrangement places all three Maine-based entities under one roof in Bangor.

One of those tenants, Portland Air Freight, is a deeply-rooted Maine company that has been around for 44 years. The company employs 118 employees statewide, including 40 who work in Bangor. Owner, John Austin, said his company, which made inroads in Hampden before moving to its new Bangor home, is “looking forward to being here for awhile.”

Servicing central Maine from Waterville north to Houlton, where the Presque Isle branch takes over, the company transports air freight for about 300 customers who don’t own means of transportation.

Another facet of the business includes a diversified, less-than-a-trailer-load (LTL) business that can deliver single items like desks and auto parts. Portland Air Freight maintains a designated fleet for Darling’s Parts Wholesalers CARQUEST.

Within their cargo-handling service for U.S. Air, Portland Air Freight unloads airplane cargo and distributes it to central Maine destinations or holds it for customer pick-up. With 300 customers nationwide, Austin said “we handle deliveries everywhere in Maine. Overnight delivery is our primary business.

“Portland Air Freight will pick up cargo anywhere in Bangor and transport it to any municipality statewide overnight,” he said. “According to our customers, we may be the only company who provides that service.”

Austin has high hopes for his association with Kris-Way Truck Leasing. He said that Portland Air Freight leases most of its trucks from Kris-Way. “Their service is far superior to all the other (leasing companies)” that we’ve done business with.

“The one thing I have to sell is service. We’re geared to performance with 99-percent on-time delivery,” he said. “We can’t do that if the equipment doesn’t operate. With Kris-Way trucks, we get a fixed cost and a superior product. Reliable equipment is a big factor.”

Portland Air Freight’s tenancy with Kris-Way is like icing on the cake. The company had previously established a lessee relationship with Kris-Way; so when Austin heard of Kris-Way’s impending move, he realized that his company’s affiliation with its lessor could be enhanced as a tenant.

Kris-Way, the landlord and lessor, provides on-site refueling and repairs for trucks leased to Portland Air Freight. “It works out better to be close,” Austin said. “Easy access to the highway and the close proximity of service” sealed the deal.

The moves “gives us a nice home,” he said, “in a perfect neighborhood.” All three occupants of the Perry Road building are Maine companies. “We focus on doing business with people in Maine. That’s a primary consideration for us.”

Their philosophy matches that of Kris-Way and the building’s other tenant, Oakhurst Dairy. Austin said that Kris-Way’s personnel and corporate philosophy “is what sets them apart from the others. “It’s the way life should be,” he said. “With Kris-Way, we feel they understand the needs of their customers and respond the best way possible.”

Around the other side of the Bangor facility, Oakhurst Dairy prominently displays its familiar acorn logo. Founded in 1921, the family-owned and operated company employs 165 people statewide.

Oakhurst produces about a half million pounds of milk each weekday at its its top-rated processing plant in Portland, supplied by 75 farms within a 100-mile radius.

Maine’s last statewide independent dairy has settled well in its new Bangor home.

To establish a northern presence prior to moving to Bangor, Oakhurst leased a depot in Brewer. The company soon realized, though, that the facility was neither large enough nor designed properly to fit its needs.

Stan Bennett, the company’s president, said Kris-Way has maintained the Oakhurst fleet in central, northern, and eastern Maine for about 15 years. “We knew they were in the process of renovation,” he said. “We looked at the property with them and asked about renting a portion of it.”

Like its landlord, the building’s third tenant is a locally-owned business. “That’s really important to us,” said Bennett. “A lot of our ads and public relations center around being a family business that is locally operated.”

Since Kris-Way was already maintaining Oakhurst’s vehicles, the dairy felt the opportunity to become a tenant was “ideal. It makes good sense.”

The building’s close proximity to Interstate 95 and other local businesses offered Oakhurst additional advantages. “It’s a good comfortable fit,” Bennett said.