Washington County economy sees upswing amid new resident influx

Hope and Despair, the tiny twin islands perched close to the mouth of Little Kennebec Bay, might function an allegory for Washington County. Beleaguered by growth and bust because the demise of the canning factories that used to line the coast, the once-thriving area has practically drowned beneath unfulfilled plans and guarantees.

The county persists as one of many poorest within the state, with a 12 p.c poverty charge and a per capita earnings of roughly $26,000, in response to the latest U.S. census information. However due to a surge of newcomers and an increasing housing market, the Down East tide would possibly lastly be turning. Some proof, they are saying, may be present in two companies overlooking either side of Little Kennebec Bay, simply past Hope and Despair. 

Schoppee Farms and West Department Farms are two pandemic-era Machias companies began by households that determined to speculate their time, passions and cash in Washington County.

On the east facet of the bay, the historic Schoppee dairy farm lay fallow for 60 years till a cadre of ninth-generation members of the family returned residence in 2019 to restart the farm as a hemp rising and hashish enterprise. Ben, Allison, Peter and Matt Edwards are steadily rising the enterprise, with eight staff and upwards of 100 throughout a sturdy harvest season.

Ben Edwards, the managing associate, stated they’re diversifying and increasing, with elderberry and different natural medicinal merchandise, in addition to adult-use hashish. Though thriving now, Edwards stated he and his household anxious at first whether or not the enterprise might reach Washington County.

“It was an actual concern once we determined to return again,” Edwards stated. “However some actually thrilling issues have occurred in the previous few years. Quite a lot of farms and companies have began or restarted, and have actually began to take off. I feel there’s some actual momentum.”

West of Schoppee Farm, over the blue ribbon of water that separates them, West Department Farm sits on the rolling hills of a former wild blueberry barren, now residence to Espresso & Crisp Café, an natural farm-to-table eatery that opened in mid-October. Homeowners Chris and Sue Meroff, and their grownup son, Josh (who oversees operations as a brand new, year-round resident) are longtime Maine vacationers from Texas, who plan to provide rather more than a captivating nation café. 

With 10 staff and 6 extra deliberate for subsequent spring, West Department has two farms, one for produce, berries and an apple orchard; and one other down the street for livestock. It’s all to provide natural meals for the café and farmers market, in addition to a deliberate Inn and Tavern, a Thirties duplicate rooster barn marriage ceremony venue, and visitor cabins. Chris Meroff stated their established enterprise ventures in Texas gave them sufficient capital to take a threat with West Department Farms.

“We don’t need to be blind to what might go mistaken, however we don’t need to let that get in the best way of making an actual economic system right here,” Chris Meroff stated. “And that’s actually what these areas want, the fullness of an economic system, with good-paying, year-round jobs.”

West Department Farms homeowners Chris and Sue Meroff, and their grownup son, Josh, are longtime Maine vacationers from Texas who opened their café in mid-October. Submitted photograph.

Across the county, from the border metropolis of Calais all the way down to Steuben, about 40 miles from Bar Harbor, the indicators of a pandemic surge are in every single place: New companies are opening, and actual property gross sales and costs are going up. The 2020 census confirmed a drop of 1,761 residents from 2010, however that snapshot was taken a 12 months too early, some say.

“The census doesn’t actually inform the story on the bottom,” stated Washington County Commissioner and Port Authority Director Christopher Gardner. “For the county that supposedly misplaced all its inhabitants, discover me the vacant homes as a result of there aren’t any. We’re seeing property valuations skyrocket in Washington County.”

That’s definitely true in Milbridge, a 24-square-mile city located close to the bottom of the county on Narraguagus Bay, with an official inhabitants of 1,358. Lewis Pinkham, the city supervisor and police chief, stated he’s undecided what’s attracting folks to Milbridge however is aware of they’re coming — and paying high greenback.

“We’ve had in all probability 20 new properties constructed since COVID, arms down — and loads of properties offered that have been vacant,” Pinkham stated. “They usually’re paying twice as a lot as they need to have for stuff. Our city valuation went up $36 million final 12 months and it seems to be prefer it’s going up one other $25 million this 12 months.”

Washington County residence gross sales within the three-month interval from July by means of September was practically 38 p.c larger than throughout the identical interval final 12 months, in response to the Maine Affiliation of Realtors. The median gross sales value additionally grew to $220,000 from $160,000 solely a 12 months in the past. Karen Eldridge, a realtor promoting properties in Washington County for 17 years, stated the studies echo the large bounce she’s seen together with her gross sales.

“Washington County costs have began to check nearly precisely with Penobscot County costs,” Eldridge stated. “That’s one thing I’ve by no means seen so long as I’ve lived right here.”

Realtor Debbie Holmes, based mostly in Lubec, stated her sale costs are additionally “loopy excessive.” She cited one waterfront residence she’s offered twice: in 2016 for $285,000, then this 12 months for $650,000. 

Realtors and officers admit some gross sales are seasonal properties and conversions for trip leases. However in response to census numbers crunched by Helen Hemminger, a analysis affiliate for the Maine Kids’s Alliance, regardless that deaths exceeded births in Washington County, the grownup inhabitants grew in 2021 by 59.  And that information is already out of date. Realtors say even rising rates of interest haven’t cooled the housing market a lot. They are saying the one factor slowing gross sales isn’t sufficient provide to fulfill demand: The housing inventory countywide is almost depleted and new building is price prohibitive at $300 per sq. foot, if you’ll find a builder with lower than a two-year wait checklist.

These costs inevitably make the housing prices practically unaffordable for longtime locals as folks trickle in from out of state — typically bringing a style for brand spanking new shops and eating places, and the disposable earnings to pay for them. 

Michael Siano is a chiropractor who moved to East Machias from Atlanta in 2020 together with his spouse Martha and arrange apply. After watching the inhabitants explode in Atlanta, Siano stated they determined it was time to get out.

“We checked out one another and stated, we might go anyplace we would like. We simply knew we needed one thing reasonably priced and to be close to the ocean,” he stated.  “So we began working our means up the coast and put the brakes on earlier than we have been in another country,” he chuckled.

Los Angeles composer and pianist Danny Holt, who’s initially from the Northeast, stated he had sufficient of the hectic west coast life-style and escalating temperatures. So in early October, he got here to see what Maine needed to supply and ended up placing a suggestion on the primary home he noticed, up the street from the Sianos. 

“What actually did it for me was strolling on that path by means of the sphere, seeing wild blueberries, two huge mature apple timber, after which happening within the woods and standing on the sting of the river,” Holt stated. “I had a extremely highly effective emotional response and I truly began crying.”

Homesteaders Chris and Kelly Dutra. Submitted photograph.

The Down East panorama is a robust draw, particularly to out-of-state urbanites and suburbanites fleeing comparatively congested areas. Homesteaders Kelly Dutra, her husband Chris, and 13-year-old son moved to Jonesboro from Cape Cod in June after falling in love with the realm final summer season visiting buddies. Kelly Dutra stated they tried to create the homestead life again on Cape Cod however had solely 1 / 4 of an acre and neighbors on all three sides. 

“There additionally isn’t an appreciation for farm recent gadgets again residence like there may be right here in Maine. We additionally love the outside, however you may solely stroll the identical trails in a small space so many instances earlier than it turns into boring,” Dutra stated. “Right here there are such a lot of completely different locations to discover.”

Municipal officers and realtors say folks appear to be migrating to the county for quite a lot of causes, together with deliberate and new retirements; transferring for a brand new job; to be close to household; and since they’ll work remotely. Thanks partly to federal and state grants, high-speed broadband is increasing quickly even in essentially the most rural components of the county. 

Entry to dependable web was a plus for 55-year-old Kimberly Collins, who moved from the Washington, D.C., space two years in the past to be close to her son and granddaughter in Calais. With out facilities and providers close by to which she was accustomed, Collins stated the primary 12 months was nonetheless tough. However by the second 12 months, Collins determined to promote her prized bike to open a enterprise downtown, Boujee Bouj Skincare & Waxing, one of many 18 new pandemic-era companies in Calais.

Craig Bruce and his husband Michael Novack, transplants from Windsor, Ontario, additionally opened a enterprise in downtown Calais earlier this 12 months, the White Birch Trade, a backyard décor and present retailer with on-line gross sales. The couple was drawn to the cross-border group, dwelling in New Brunswick and coming to the shop every day to work.

Maybe greater than anyplace within the county, Calais, with an estimated inhabitants of roughly 3,000, has benefited from the inflow of recent folks, not solely from outdoors the state however inside the county. Mayor Billy Howard stated many new residents transfer in from extra rural cities like Alexander as a result of they need nearer entry to providers and, in response to Howard, are drawn to Calais’ constantly decrease taxes.

Out-of-staters say they like the small cities and panorama Down East, and are fleeing comparatively congested areas. Photograph by Andrea Walton.

Practically half of the Washington County colleges report plummeting enrollments — as a lot as 60 p.c decrease — as a result of the brand new residents are sometimes with out school-age youngsters, and are sometimes middle-aged or older. However in Calais, Howard stated the town must increase its elementary college due to an enrollment improve.

Others additionally really feel the rising pains and are ramping as much as meet the elevated want. Machias-based Downeast Group Hospital final 12 months rescued Calais Hospital out of chapter, and has added new suppliers and clinics in Machias. Eastport Well being Heart can be increasing in Machias, with a much bigger, new facility and an added supplier. Machias Financial savings Financial institution, headquartered in Machias, additionally has invested closely within the county’s progress, with $30 million in loans final 12 months countywide, a brand new banking providers facility downtown, and a $250,000 donation for the brand new MaineStreet Enterprise Constructing, an entrepreneurial incubator headed up by the Dawn Financial Council.

Nonetheless, many fear that the county won’t have the ability to sustain with the sudden surge, with infrastructure and providers, or sufficient locations for folks to dwell; and so they surprise who could be misplaced within the wake on this nonetheless largely poor area. Gardner, the county commissioner, additionally owns 10 residence items and stated home gross sales and rents are each on the rise — in lots of locations rents are double what they have been two years in the past.

“It’s an attention-grabbing dilemma that we discover ourselves in,” stated Gardner. “The attractiveness of our areas is a superb factor, proper? Nevertheless it’s annihilating our housing inventory. We welcome folks. We would like them to return. Within the meantime, after they present up, we hope we will discover them a spot to dwell.”

Do you’ve a narrative to inform about excessive housing prices and the affect of recent residents coming to Washington County? Produce other vital Washington County tales not being coated? We need to hear from you. Please electronic mail your story concepts to contact@themainemonitor.org.