To build yacht interiors, Hodgdon Yachts has leased a long, low manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Richmond's Main Street, which heads toward Route 295. The company is investing $1.1 million to outfit the 28,000-square-foot facility and expects in the next two years to hire 35 new workers, as well as transfer 15 workers from its East Boothbay yard. The building also is next door to Richmond's middle and high schools, and the company plans to offer an apprenticeship program for students.

One reason Hodgdon Yachts expanded inland was to find workers. A recent survey by Maine's North Star Alliance Initiative — a federally-funded economic development program for the boatbuilding, composites and marine trades — noted that a shortage of workers is among the highest barriers to sustained business competitiveness for boatyards.

Smith says that Hodgdon's East Boothbay yard, a remote 14 miles at the end of a long peninsula crowded with expensive real estate, has made it difficult to attract prospective workers. In Richmond, on the other hand, the company can draw on a labor pool that starts locally and expands out to Augusta, Gardiner, Brunswick, Portland, Lewiston-Auburn and Rockland.

photo/david a. rodgers Smooth sailing: An employee at Hodgdon Yachts works on parts for yacht interiors in East Boothbay. The company soon plans to move the shop to a new space in Richmond.

The move to Richmond also helps solve a workflow problem at Hodgdon Yachts. Since the production cycle of a yacht can last three years, it can be difficult for a shipyard to maintain staff between big jobs. "It adds another arrow to our quiver," Smith says. "And we can enter a different market and diversify, so we can stabilize the workforce. It takes the peaks and valleys out of production."

The Richmond expansion could double the size of the business over the next two to three years, according to Wright. The company hopes to add more than 100 workers in East Boothbay and Richmond in five years. "There's that much revenue potential," he says.