Forum tells Maine businesses to look north

ORONO – The Maritime and Atlantic provinces of Canada, comfortable with a decade of economic growth, once again are making a pitch to Maine businesses to look north to northeast to expand.

And Maine companies are interested in finding out more.

More than 45 people attended the fourth annual “Canada Day: Regional Opportunities in the International Northeast” event on Thursday, a forum sponsored by the Maine International Trade Center and held at the University of Maine. The majority of the attendees were Maine businesses or economic developers that wanted to get information about selling their products or setting up shop across Maine’s border.

The provincial sales pitches, which have been touted for several years now, are to get both American and Canadian companies not to put all of their focus on conducting business in countries to the east or west, but look to “traditional historic trade patterns” of north and south.

That recent change in attitude by the Maritime and Atlantic provinces has the Canadian neighbors looking to Maine and other New England states as a place for investment and a gateway to the rest of the United States.

Allan Shaw, chairman and chief executive officer of The Shaw Group, a natural resources manufacturer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said that of the top 100 companies in Atlantic Canada, 45 percent export to other countries and one-third export out of the region.

Ninety of those 100 companies also expect Atlantic Canada’s economic prospects to be better this year than last, he said.

Because of the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1993, which eliminated or reduced tariffs on cross-border trade, Canada has found a marketplace in the United States. More than $4.1 billion in merchandise, primarily energy products, is traded between Canada and Maine, according to the Canadian Embassy.

Businesses north of the border want Maine and other New England states to “not keep their back against the border and look southward,” according to provincial representatives at Thursday’s event.

Each of the representatives gave presentations on how low energy prices, governmental and business investments in telecommunications, transportation and other infrastructures, as well as changes in governmental tax policies toward businesses, have improved their provinces’ economies in the last 10 years.

They said that some of the economic growth was at a better rate than other more populated provinces.

Maine companies should consider joining in the success, the representatives said.

“If we can match Maine companies with companies in New Brunswick or Atlantic Canada and focus them on growth and expansion, we’re all going to benefit,” said Neil Jacobsen, chief operating officer of Enterprise Saint John, an economic development group in Saint John, New Brunswick. “With the exchange rate as it is now, it’s a very good time for Maine and New England to look north.”

Carolyn Hamm, co-owner of Galt Block Warehouse Co. Inc. in Bangor, said her warehouse and distribution business would like more clients from the Maritimes and Atlantic Canada. She thought “Canada Day” would help her make the right connections, and possibly drum up wood pallet storage and shipping opportunities.

In 2002, Galt Block laid off 80 of its 106 employees because of a reduction in business from Georgia-Pacific Co. of Old Town.

G-P remains a solid customer, as does Ducktrap River Fish Farm in Winter Harbor and Penobscot McCrum Frozen Foods in Belfast. With a new refrigeration and freezer storage unit, Galt Block on Thursday was making connections with economic developers from Canada who could put the Bangor company in touch with manufacturers and truckers north of the border.

“It’s all part of the picture,” Hamm said.