Bartlettyarns, Inc. Po Box 36 Harmony, ME 04942 Attention: Maine DECD Seeks lnput in Identifying Possible Opportunity Zones Opportunity Zones are a ne? community development program established by (?ongress in the Ta\ ('uts and Jobs Act of NW to encourage long-term in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The Opportunity Zones program prmides a ta\ incentise for investors to re-imest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to imesting into Opportunity Zones designated by the chief executives of every state and territory. Read more below about how the Opportunity Zones program \mrks. as well as its histon and community of supporters. The map on the ?ebsite ?Eligibilitv status for Quali?ed Opportunity Zones, as of 20 8" it appears that Hammn) and Athens. ME \xould fall under "eligible criteria. As a business that was founded in 182 . further information can be viewed on our \xebsite .banlett\ams.com. I would like to share some thoughts regarding the" input of identify ing possible opportunity zones in our area??which is Central Somerset County-Harmony. ME area. The following is a o-fold input from the President of Bartlettyams. the first is about a 20.000 sf building. ith three phase po? er. open concept building located in Harmony and the second is about Bartlettyarns and future expansion. What criteria should be used to determine Maine's Opportunity Zones? Please specify tracts for consideration Please include justi?cation for any criteria and/or tracts in your submission Criteria that should be used should include (not listed in any particular order or preference) 0 Town?s unemployment status, 0 Town?s median income according to census (or if more up to date information is available) 0 The age of its citizens?workforce in the area, 0 The ability to keep/retain citizens and 0 To encourage new families to move into this area. 0 Look at the school population vs. death rate-it is depressing when more people in the community are dying vs. being born 0 Look at the number of vacant houses of a community. 0 Retention rate of young people in the community. Young people move out because of the lack of opportunity and young people do not move in. 0 Skilled laborjobs vs. Of?ce/Corporatejobs in the area-there are talented people in this area who like to work with their hands and are multi-generational textile workers. 0 Companies that could expand and want to expand and could within 3-4 months show growth with additional capital/investment. 0 Observe the use of technology within the community and how this can and should be improved. 0 Consider the ?approval" process for applying and receiving funds-investments into one?s business. Not all have Mentoring, guidance and someone who can breakdown and work with an individual is going to be necessary part of this process. 0 Consideration of business proposals of established businesses who need assistance to grow and thrive. Look at the smaller business, not just the large. 0 Diversity of who sits to review this information and make decisions/recommendations to the Govemor. Reach outside to community, small business-perhaps those who have fewer than 12 employees. Look at the various commodity groups in the state and ask for their input! 0 Have diversity into all sectors of business, including agriculture, forestry, technology, manufacturing, sales, etc. 0 Give priority to manufacturing of a Maine based product-agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, etc. 0 Do not limit to non-pro?ts, not for profits, etc. Consider those who are for profit equally. Please specify tracts for consideration Please include justi?cation for any criteria and/or tracts in your submission Creative Apparel Building-Harmony, Maine This was a building given to the Town and the Town rented out for several years before it closed about 5- 6 years ago. As a taxpayer of Harmony, this revenue of the rental of this building helped stabilize the tax rate for many years and with a declining population and not much opportunity or growth in this area (no real new business or opportunity) for all age brackets, and a group of people who will not relinquish any control or give something a chance is strangling this community. Consistent reliable year-round employment for many is hard to come by-theyjob hop from season to season. "There are communities across Maine with vacant industrial sites and an available workforce. This program could be the catalyst to really move the needle in areas of our state that need it the most," said George Gervais.? Our Approximately 5-6 years ago we were approached about purchasing a building the Tow ow ned in Harmony. ME for the expansion of Bartlettyams. We offered the town of Harmon). $100,000 CASH which they outright refused thinking they could place it on the market and garner much more money After sitting empty for a very longtime, the real estate agent approached us again in 2016 and after a wry long and painful struggle we reached an agreement of $60000. Almost ey ery point in the purchase and sales agreement was violated by the Town and eventually. after six months or more we hired an attorney in Portland to work with the Town?s Altomey. To make a very long story short. we could not purchase a building sitting in the middle ofcross-easements in the middle ofa "public" park-no one in their right mind would do this. Our expansion of our business was stalled for a year because ofthe tow n-not us-wc were willing and able cash buyers! We walked away. and I had contacted the governor?s of?ce as well as our state senator. Paul Day is. Bartletty ams has moved on. after simmering a few days we located a parcel in Athens. on the Harmony town line on Route 150 and purchased 16 acres of land to expand. This building I talk about remains empty in Harmony. Athens is reaping the bene?ts of our expansion! Bartlettyarns still retains its original site in Harmony and that part of the business will not move. our expansion is located in Athens. about 3 miles from our current mill site. Bartlettyams has received a national grant from A51 in the amount of $30,000. plus a sizable amount from us (the owners of Bartlettyams) to purchase a scouring train to wash wool which was utilized at MIT in the 1950?s. We are very close to this completion. We also want to expand with another building to re- introduce our weaving of blankets and we are working with another non-pro?t to assist them in a troublesome business arrangement they have with getting their work completed-ideally if I had another 5100.000 to put up the building. this would employ additional people in Somerset County. We have striy ed to move forward our business with little or no ?nancial debt. We estimate that an additional 7-10 people could be employed by Bartlettyams, bringing our total to 14-] 7 full time jobs over the next couple of years. Yes. we understand that it is not 50-100 newjobs or even hundreds or thousands. We know people who have the know ledge in the textile business who need jobs and are willing to work. This is a ibrant pan of the culture and work force in this area which has been really gutted. Yes. there is a need for this ty pe of work. we have customers all over the United States and lntemationally that we could reach with our products-we just need assistance and some help. As you may or may not know, Somerset County is not a thriving area. speci?cally the area of Athens, Harmony and Cambridge. As I am not involved at the town levels, I do not know hat the town?s outreach has been. 1 can only speak for my business. 1 am sure there are others who would bene?t from some assistance and that is in part why this is being written. not only for my business. As we have been a part of the community for over 1 1 years and were customers of Bartlettyams for over 25 years before that and had come to know many people in this area over the course of these years. we have seen this area really struggle-we are not really sure why-what the catalyst is, but these are good. honest. hardworking Mainers and wejust want to speak up because we are not sure if anyone else is. Lastly, yes, I do understand the necessity of gathering input and some study of the subject. but it seems that very little trickles down to those who need it most-the average mom and pop business who employs 5-10-15 or 20 people. Thank you for your consideration and time, Susan J. Rice. President Bartlettyarns. lnc.