In Mainebiz podcast, lobster exporter talks about clawing back from market loss
Maine CEOs and business leaders were tested by crisis long before COVID-19 hit the state, and now they’re telling their stories first-hand in a new podcast series from Mainebiz.
“The Day that Changed Everything” launched last week and on Monday premiered a new installment, featuring Tom Adams, founder and CEO of Maine Coast, a York-based lobster wholesaling company that exports to dozens of countries.
In this 30-minute episode, Adams discusses how he responded when 80% of his sales to China, Maine Coast’s fastest-growing market, suddenly evaporated because of a July 2018 import tariff. Overall, the value of live Maine lobsters exported to China plummeted 64% that month, compared to July 2017 levels.
Maine Coast had revenues of over $55 million in 2017, and shipped 7.3 million pounds lobster, with 1.5 million of that amount going to China.
Despite the casualty of a major market in an international trade war, Maine Coast has retooled and found growth in other countries. Today, the company has recouped much of the lost business, and employs 50 workers year-round. Maine Coast has been recognized with honors including the 2016 Mainebiz Fastest Growing Mid-Sized Company and the 2018 Maine International Trade Center's Exporter of the Year.
Last week’s premiere of “The Day that Changed Everything” featured Kevin Hancock, CEO of Hancock Lumber Co., who discussed how a medical condition suddenly left him without a voice, literally, to lead his company.
Another new installment of “The Day That Changed Everything” will go live Aug. 3, and others will debut every two weeks. Each will feature Maine business leaders who found their lives or businesses upended — but discovered how upheaval can ultimately lead to unexpected success.
The series is sponsored by the Maine Technology Institute, Norway Savings Bank and Sutherland Weston.
Subscribe to “The Day That Changed Everything” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Or click here for more information and links to the installments.
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